Salvation
by Robyn Locksley
Summary: Damon is left behind to deal with Klaus when a beautiful & familiar stranger shows up. Someone Damon hasn't seen since 1860. Someone destined to save Damon in more ways than one, from Klaus and from himself. Rhiannon. Damon/OC Love Story!
1. Chapter 1

**Salvation**

**A/N This is my very first fan fiction, so I hope its not too disappointing. I'm a huge fan of Damon, & since Elena's behavior has aggravated me recently, I dreamed up an OC. Rhiannon is extremely unique, and very powerful. I didn't want to create another damsel in distress type that Damon would get stuck saving all the time. **

**I really hope you enjoy reading this!**

************Background**_: Story begins circa 3x14, though I'll be deviating from the show's storyline for the sake of telling my own. Stefan turned his humanity back on, Elena professed her undying, unwavering love for Stefan, and the two of them decided the safest thing to do considering Klaus was still around was to skip town to a secret location. Damon knows that they left, but not even he knows where they went. He stayed behind in Mystic Falls to rid the town of Klaus and the other Originals once and for all. And thanks to his newly broken heart and his perpetual affinity for bourbon, he's back to his 'I don't give a damn about anything' attitude.***********_

**Chapter One**

**Chapter Song: Behind Blue Eyes by Limp Bizkit**

Damon Salvatore had just finished his sixth bourbon of the night. He sat his empty tumbler back down on the counter loudly, and shouted at the bartender to bring him another. He inwardly cursed whoever had the idea to play the Adele song that was now blaring loudly.

"Damon, really? Pace yourself, its only 11," Alaric Saltzman, the closest thing to a friend Damon had, had accompanied him to the Mystic Grill tonight. He gave Damon a knowing look, and softened his tone. "Look man, if this is about Elena taking off with Stefan, we knew that eventually-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Damon cut Ric short, leaning over the counter to grab the bottle of bourbon, since the damn bartender wasn't moving fast enough this evening. "Eventually little bro would flip his switch, go back to slaughtering bunnies, and get his girl," he paused to take a drink and tried to ignore the pain of dubbing Elena as Stefan's. "Believe me, Ric, I know. I've lived it. This ain't the first time, remember?"

Ignoring the fact that Damon had just went from drinking from a glass to a full bottle, Alaric merely nodded. Damon was a heavy drinker, he knew that. What concerned him was that he was now upset and drinking. Anyone who knew Damon knew that was never a good thing. "Well, if you need to talk about anything, I'm here."

"Ric, what the hell's wrong with you?" Damon remarked, lowering the bottle from his lips. "Talking implies feeling. Which is something I don't do."

"You know, this whole vampy, lushy act has gotten old."

Damon silently glared at his friend, trying to decide whether he should be angered or amused by his comment. Finally, he shrugged, unabashed. "What can I say, when I think too much, I drink too much."

"So what do you intend to do about Klaus and his family? You know he's gonna be pissed when he finds out Elena's gone and he can't create any more hybrids," Ric said, changing the subject. "Why didn't you skip town with them?"

Damon rolled his eyes, as if Alaric had missed something completely obvious. "And play third wheel to the Stefan/Elena love fest? No thanks, I'll pass." He took another generous drink and then continued. "As for Klaus, hell, I don't know. My epic plans have been lacking recently. Maybe I'll just waltz into Casa de Klaus and let him stake me. Once I finish this bottle, I doubt I will give a damn about any of it anymore." His signature smirk crept onto his face. "That's what I'm banking on, anyway."

Alaric wanted to tell the raven-haired vampire that alcohol wasn't the cure to everything, but he knew it was certainly Damon's elixir of choice. Just as Ric was about to suggest leaving, someone at the corner of the bar caught his attention.

"Whoa!" The history teacher mumbled as he spied the striking redhead.

Damon hadn't been paying attention to Ric, suspecting he was about to launch into one of his anti-boozing tirades.

_Like he was anyone to talk,_ Damon thought.

Finally noticing Ric wasn't talking, Damon looked at his friend and followed his gaze.

At the end of the bar was the most attractive woman he had seen lately, possibly ever seen. Her thick, straight dark red hair fell to her hips. She had a truly gorgeous face: large, prominent wide set eyes, a delicate nose, and a full pouty mouth. She was visibly curvy, her tight dark wash jeans and green shirt that was partially sheer only showcased her hotness.

"Hell-ooo Red!" Damon muttered as his eyes continued to survey her appreciatively. He also saw that a crowd of men had already assembled around her. Including the bartender, which was probably why he hadn't noticed his missing bottle of bourbon. Despite the attention, the girl seemed to be doing her best to ignore her suitors. Just then, she looked up straight at Damon, and his breath caught in his throat.

This girl looked familiar. Very familiar. Unfortunately, no name or particular place to associate with her came to mind. One of the pitfalls of being around for an eternity.

"Looks like I found my night cap," Damon announced.

"Seriously? You might have an opportunity with that girl, _**if**_ you sober up a little and _**if**_ you can manage not to act like a complete ass. Though those are two pretty big 'ifs' for you. Would you really rather have her for a snack?"

Now Damon was annoyed. Living up to everyone else's expectations of him was becoming exhausting. "What do you care anyway?" he began, tearing his eyes away from the girl. "Go home, Ric! You're a little too judgy tonight for my taste," he snapped.

"Whatever, man. Give me a call tomorrow, when you sober up," Ric said before walking towards the door.

Damon started to shout that he intended to do neither, but refrained as his eyes settled back on the redhead. Still watching him, the girl was staring at him expectantly. He tried to read her expression, and thought he saw something deeper than the normal looks he got from women, which typically were lusty and full of desire. But this girl was looking at him full of concern and emotion, as if she cared.

_Impossible. Maybe Ric's right, maybe I have drank too much, _he thought with a cringe.

As he began his sinuous stride over toward her, her eyes never left him. Damon pushed effortlessly through the men that encircled her, never breaking eye contact, and leaned casually against the bar no more than two feet away from her. Now that he was in such close proximity to her, he noticed more about the girl. Her eyes were a gorgeous shade of green, complemented perfectly by her dark red hair. They practically sparkled, even in the dimly lit bar. She was also charmingly short, probably no taller than 5'2. And her smell! She smelled of jasmine, so strong and sweet, he could get drunk from it if only the bourbon hadn't already done the job.

"Fellas, fellas. Thanks for keeping my girl company until I got here. You're all free to leave now," he said dismissively, winking at the girl. She mirrored his smirk perfectly, and for the first time, he noticed her dimples. Reluctantly, the men dispersed.

"Your girl?" she asked, her voice full of amusement.

Damon shrugged. "Would you rather still be surrounded by all of them? Cause it certainly didn't look like you were enjoying yourself. That is, until you saw me."

The way she looked at him made Damon feel like she had known him for years. He watched as her smile widened, brightening her lovely face.

_Dazzling,_ he thought to himself. _I know I have seen her somewhere._

"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked, getting right to the point. For just a brief moment, her lighthearted amusement cracked and her smile faltered. She quickly regained her mask of composure, but her hesitation did not go unnoticed by Damon.

"Do you?" she countered playfully, tilting her head slightly.

_Just what the hell I need, _Damon thought. _Another mysterious woman that loves playing coy and keeping secrets. _

He didn't really have the patience for games, but Damon decided he would tolerate her at least a little longer, considering her hotness and overall allure.

"Cute," he replied, his voice devoid of all humor. This made her laugh. Most women didn't find his sarcasm amusing. Confused and intrigued, he held out his palm towards her. "Damon Salvatore," he announced, anticipating her response.

Something that looked like sadness clouded her eyes as she turned away from him to polish off the last of her ale. Continuing to avoid Damon's blue eyes, she replied. "Names are inconsequential, Mr. Salvatore. Don't worry about learning mine."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her, reeling from the mood swings the girl seemed to suffer from. "Secretive, much? If you don't tell me your name, I'll just have to come up with a nickname for you," he threatened, hoping to finally sway her. But the seconds ticked by, and she remained unresponsive, staring blankly at the bar counter. "How about Red?"

She stared back at him disdainfully. She was beginning to test his patience, and Damon knew he would need another bottle of bourbon to stay around her much longer.

_I saw this conversation going a lot differently in my mind, _he lamented.

"What the hell is your _**problem**_?" he began, trying but failing to contain his anger. "Everything was fine, and then I introduce myself and you go all ice princess!"

Upon hearing the blunt frustration in Damon's tone, the girl's green eyes softened and she sighed. He could sense she was fighting an internal struggle, but over what, he did not know. All Damon knew was that he would not leave her alone until she told him.

"Rhiannon," she breathed after what seemed like ages.

Damon beamed, thrilled that he had convinced her to cave. "Rhiannon," he purred. "Like the song?"

"How original, Mr. Salvatore. I like that in a man," she flirted.

"Damon," he corrected, and did his trademark eye thing. He noticed her breathing hitch, and grinned devilishly. He took a step toward her, closing the gap between them, their faces now mere inches apart. Damon inhaled her scent deeply, savoring it. He knew that he could easily compel her to kiss him, to go home with him, but he knew he wouldn't. In truth, he hated resorting to compulsion. He wanted HER to want him. Damon gazed into the depths of her green eyes, and again, some buried familiarity deep inside them screamed out to him.

"Where are you from?" he inquired, desperately attempting to keep his tone casual.

"Here and there," she replied shortly.

Unable to control himself, Damon brought his hands up and cupped her face. When she jumped at his close contact, he assumed that his reaction had scared her, and instantly regretted it.

_Wait, since when do I regret scaring people? I'm going soft! _he thought to himself.

He intentionally spoke softly, in hopes of not frightening her any further.

"Why are you trying to keep secrets from me?" he purred softly.

"To protect you," she replied, her voice no louder than a whisper.

Even though Damon had only just met the mysterious girl, something about her words rang true and he realized he trusted her.

This revelation, of course, made him wildly uncomfortable.

Damon's eyes sharpened and he let his hands fall away from her face and took half a step back. She seemed slightly troubled that he was further away from her but she shook her head and reached for her bag.

"What do you mean?" he questioned fervently.

Rhiannon shook her head again and slung her bag over her shoulder. "I have to go now, I'm sorry," she explained. She tried to step around him, but he blocked her. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her into his chest. Damon felt the girl's chest rise with a sudden intake of breath as he pressed her against him. He suddenly became desperate to keep her from leaving, and even trivial things like manners returned to him.

"Please stay," Damon pleaded.

"Let me go," she insisted reluctantly. When Damon's sinewy arms stayed locked in place around her, she forced more emphasis into her voice. "Please let me go. I need to go and I'd rather not harm you."

Damon raised his eyebrows at her. He was profoundly curious at what this beautiful, tiny girl thought she could do to him.

_Probably over-confident from some self defense class her parents enrolled her in_, he thought, shaking his head and smirking. _Beautiful and delusional, just my type._

Rhiannon struggled against his grasp. In truth, she liked being this close to him, she had missed it, but she could not let him know this, any of it.

Seeing her struggle, Damon knew that he had no choice. He had not wanted to resort to this, he hated it really, but Rhiannon seemed as determined to leave as he was to make her stay. Damon leaned his face dangerously close, locked his eyes on hers and unleashed their full intensity.

She watched his pupils dilate and knew at once he was trying to compel her.

_Little does he know its useless against me,_ Rhiannon thought, and she silently grabbed a toothpick from her bag.

"Nice try, but no cigar," she said, her voice dripping with disapproval.

Before Damon could react, Rhiannon stabbed his right forearm with the toothpick, before she fled out the door. The small piece of wood in his arm stung to hell and back, but it was obviously only meant to be a distraction so she could leave.

_Vervain_, he thought. _That's why she resisted my compulsion_. _But if she thinks she scared me off by stabbing me with a toothpick, she's got another thing coming._

Now more intrigued than ever, Damon was out the door in a flash. He found her standing in solitude, facing his Camaro, with her back to him. Before she could impale him with another wooden object, he blurred over to stand right behind her. He snaked his left arm around her waist, and his right around her neck when he paused.

A normal person would have been startled at his sudden presence or at least the way he had positioned himself, but she acted as if she had been expecting him to join her.

"That was a very dangerous thing to do back there," Damon chided in her ear, but his voice was unable to hide his amusement. He knew she was either very brave or very stupid, and either way, he was impressed.

Damon dipped his head to the side of her neck and inhaled. Rhiannon smelled like intoxicatingly good. The floral notes of jasmine harmoniously infused with sweet notes of honey and vanilla. He also realized, though her blood smelled amazing, there was no trace of vervain. Standing this close to her, her scent suddenly threatened to consume him. He knew he would either need to feed from her or leave. Damon loosened his grip on her slightly, and Rhiannon slowly turned to face him. Her eyes were soft and misted with emotion, which confused him.

"I'm sorry," she began quietly. "Its just that it was too crowded in the bar, and when you grabbed me, I knew you wouldn't let me go."

"I'm supposed to believe someone who carries around an arsenal of toothpicks?" Damon scoffed, but it was a lie. Against better judgment, he did trust her. He watched her angelic face fall as she fixated her emerald eyes on something in the distance. Damon could see her eyes were filled to the brim with unfallen tears.

"Who are you?" he asked. His mind had a million unspoken questions to ask her, but he would start with that.

"I already told you. My name is Rhiannon," she replied without meeting his eyes.

"_**What**_ are you?'' he amended. At this point, it was very clear that there was something unusual about her. Rhiannon had been immune to his compulsion, and seemed to suspect he was a vampire, judging from her toothpick stunt.

"I don't know what you -" Rhiannon began, but was effectively silenced as Damon planted his mouth on hers.

In that moment she did not protest against him. Rhiannon remained locked firmly in her position as she struggled between what she wanted to do and what she should do. As the last remnants of her self-control withered away, Rhiannon's hands found his luxurious black hair and she pulled him closer to her. Damon groaned and she closed her eyes as his mouth left a trail of kisses down her jaw and neck.

"Damon…," Rhiannon moaned.

He paused briefly, noticing that this was the first time she had called him by his first name, and grinned impishly. Damon gathered her up in his arms, letting her legs encircle his waist and blurred over to the alley way adjacent to the Grill. He pressed her back against the brick wall and began assaulting her with kisses once more.

_God, she smells so damn good!_ he thought.

Before he could control himself, he felt his fangs protrude and pierced the left side of her neck. Rhiannon whimpered, but made no attempt to get away from him. The smell of her blood had nothing on the taste of it. It was superior to anything he had tasted before.

Suddenly an image flashed in his mind, and Damon saw Rhiannon. She was standing alone in the forest, with a distinct look of worry in her eyes. She wore a green and white hoop skirt, and her red hair was artfully pinned in intricate curls about the nape of her neck. He easily recognized the way she was dressed, knowing fully that this would mean that Rhiannon had been around in the mid-1800s.

_What the fuck? _he wondered as he watched the scene inside his head. _If this is real, then she must be…_

At once, the beautiful red-haired girl's expression brightened with excitement as she focused on something in the distance. Damon watched impatiently, blinking rapidly as he tried to focus on the dark figure that was approaching. Finally, his eyes overcame the obscurity in the vision and he let out an audible gasp as he recognized himself, running towards Rhiannon.

Too stunned to even form a complete thought, Damon continued to witness the images before him in still silence. He watched as the dream-like version of himself collided with Rhiannon, lifting her in the air, spinning her around once, before crushing his lips to hers to kiss her repeatedly.

When the vision ended abruptly, Damon pulled away from her and took a step back to steady himself. Rhiannon studied the dark-haired vampire warily as his mind was still reeling from the images, wondering briefly if she should stay.

Slowly, Damon saw her hand reach toward his for a moment, but then she stopped and looked up at someone that was approaching. Damon turned to see Alaric, but when he turned back to face Rhiannon, she had vanished soundlessly.

"Jesus, Damon!" Ric shouted, seeing the blood on his lips and immediately regretted leaving him drunk, hurt, and unsupervised.

"I thought you were going home," Damon grumbled as his eyes darted around to survey the surroundings.

"I was, but then I thought I better check on you. We all know how you get when you try to drown your emotions in bourbon."

For a split second, Damon struggled to remember what he had been emotional over.

_Oh, that's right! Elena. That little tease ran back to Saint Stefan the first chance she could_, Damon thought.

Stefan and Elena were now in a secret location to protect them from being found by Klaus. Faintly, Damon recalled the misery that Elena's absence had been inflicting on him, even as recently as a couple hours ago. But thinking of Elena now, he was mostly unaffected. He shrugged the thought away, and licked his lips.

Damon thought about Rhiannon, how gorgeous and fiery she was, how he had never smelled nor tasted anyone so appealing. He could've broken Ric's neck (again) for this intrusion.

"Do I interrupt you when you're with… _**anyone**_?" Damon sneered.

Alaric ignored him, legitimately worried. He knew Damon had come too far, grown too much as a person just to throw it all away because Elena reunited with Stefan. He would not lose his friend, whether Damon wanted to be lost or not.

"Damon, I thought we decided you were gonna talk to that one. _**Not**_ eat her."

Damon narrowed his eyes at Alaric. Normally he would've resented Ric trying to curb his appetite, but deep down he knew he was only acting out of concern. Damon had been solely drinking from blood bags now for the better part of a year, and as much as he enjoyed cracking jokes and bitching about it, he really didn't mind it.

Truthfully, he had only fed from Rhiannon out of passion and that overwhelming scent of hers. He had also hoped to determine what she was by tasting her, but he got more questions than answers. And if Damon had a hundred questions to ask Rhiannon before, he now had a thousand.

_What kind of blood makes you see things? _he wondered to himself.

"That 'one' is not what she seems, Ric," he said, his mind replaying the vision.

"What are you talking about, Damon?" Ric asked impatiently.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm positive I've seen her-KNOWN her- but she won't tell me." Damon decided to keep the vision part to himself, at least for now. "Did I mention she is immune to compulsion and she stabbed my arm with a toothpick?" he added in a jovial tone.

"Christ!" Ric cursed loudly, and wondered why Mystic Falls seemed to be a global mecca for all things supernatural. "Who the fuck is she?"

Damon was staring off into space, utterly intrigued, when he answered. "Rhiannon."

**A/N Hope you enjoyed Chapter One! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N If you are still with me after reading the first chapter, THANK YOU! This chapter explains a little more about Rhiannon. More Damon to come!**

**Chapter 2**

**Chapter Song: The Glass Parade by Cary Brothers**

**Rhiannon's POV**

_Damn it! How did I let that happen? _

A stupid question. I knew exactly how I let it happen.

I had faded into the shadows. A trick I had learned from my vampire mentor Rowan, although even after more than 500 years, he was still better at it than me.

_He bit me,_ I thought with a silent chuckle as I watched Damon and the man he called Ric walk back across the street to the bar. As soon as they stepped inside, I released my hold of the shadows and was myself once again.

It had been 150 years since the last time I had seen Damon Salvatore, and I had missed him so much it was nearly painful.

I was somewhere in between aggrieved and ecstatic that Damon seemed to remember seeing me before. Ecstatic, because he was the only man I had ever loved. While I had spent all these years running all over the country and the next, tracking people and doing research for Rowan, I had missed Damon every single day. Aggrieved, because I had to leave him in the first place.

When he had drawn me into his chest and pleaded for me to stay in the bar, it had taken every ounce of my willpower and better judgment to puncture him with that toothpick and run away. I winced at the memory, hating that I had caused him pain, however minor. I told myself my actions had been necessary, Damon wouldn't let me go, and knew if we were seen together publicly it could put him in danger.

A danger that Rowan and I had been tracking for centuries.

Klaus.

Unfortunately, he was an elusive little bastard, and every time we thought we were close to catching him, he vanished and went into hiding.

My thoughts drifted back to Damon, and I found myself contemplating spying on him. While I knew that I couldn't fade into the shadows for more than a few minutes at a time, I had an alternative.

My panther form.

My mother was an original druid priestess from Ireland, and all the original druids had the ability to shape shift into a specific animal. Druids worshipped the earth, and in turn reaped its magic. They were extremely powerful, until Klaus ordered them all to be massacred in the 1400s. My mother was still pregnant with me when he compelled the English guardsmen to round up all the druid 'heretics' and slit their throats, as he was busy playing the part of an English nobleman and didn't want to dirty his own hands.

It had been Rowan who tried feeding my mother his own blood to save her. He was madly in love with her, and found out what had happened all too late. My mother drank a small bit of his blood, enough to save me from dying a complete death, but not enough to save herself. Rowan took me out of her stomach, and at first thought he had been too late to save me too, but within a few hours, I was (re)born as a vampire.

A druid vampire hybrid.

I am the only one of my kind, and besides Rowan, no one, not even Klaus knows what I am. I have the ability to walk in the sunlight without any type of spells or charms, and I am more powerful, physically and mentally than normal vampires. I am immune to compulsion, though I am also unable to compel.

Damon emerged from the bar and I had to fight to keep myself from going over to him.

_No, you idiot!_ I scolded myself. _Its bad enough that you talked to him earlier! _

I forced myself to focus and pulled the shadows of the alleyway over me like a dark veil. Good thing too, because Damon's sharp eyes were scouring the area, presumably for me. His eyebrows knitted together in dissatisfaction and he climbed into his antique Camaro, slamming the door with unnecessary force in his frustration. Damon sat in his car for a few more minutes before cranking the ignition. He narrowed his eyes on the alleyway in which I was standing, and I watched as his face changed from annoyed to something that appeared to be sadness. I was not certain if this had anything to do with me or not, but regardless I felt the urge to comfort him.

Before I could act on my instinct or fight it, Damon cranked his car and sped off down the street.

I told myself it was probably a good thing that he was gone, but my heart couldn't find any relief in his absence. Once I had returned to my own form, I leaned against an old brick wall for support and sank down into the ground. I sighed as I overheard the voices inside my head waging their debate between what I _**should**_ do and what I _**wanted**_ to do.

I knew what I should do.

I _**should **_do what I came here to do. I _**should**_ focus on killing Klaus. I _**should **_leave Damon alone completely until Klaus no longer poses a threat to anyone.

But none of that was what I _**wanted **_to do.

I _**wanted **_to run to Damon. Be with him, love him, make him remember me and what we had together all those years ago. I _**wanted **_to apologize to him for ever leaving him in the first place. I _**wanted **_him to remember. I _**wanted**_ him.

I had told myself before coming into town tonight that I would only watch Damon from afar. There would be no interaction whatsoever between us.

_Look how that turned out. _

With my voice of reason silenced, I found myself beginning to devise a plan to see him again. I could leave my car parked here, shift into panther form, make sure Damon made it home safely and he would be none the wiser. I brightened almost instantly at the thought of seeing him again and climbed to my feet.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, interrupting my planning.

It was Rowan.

"Hello?" I answered cautiously.

"_You saw him tonight, didn't you?" _he asked flatly. Rowan was wasting no time on pleasantries.

"Yes," I stated simply, knowing it was no use lying to him.

"_Rhiannon, when I asked you to come back here, it wasn't so you could reunite. There was a reason I compelled him to forget you all those years ago_."

My dead heart ached at the memory. I knew it had been necessary, but it hurt like hell. Still. Knowing Damon would forget I ever existed pained me almost as much as my obligation to leave him.

"I'm aware," I replied shortly. I knew I shouldn't be rude to Rowan, after all he was protecting Damon too.

"_I need your head on straight, Rhiannon. Klaus is here, and is a very real threat_ _to everyone in this town. I cannot have you cavorting about, mooning over that boy like some love-struck adolescent!_"

"I am well aware of my responsibilities," I began dryly. "I don't need the reminder. I'll govern myself accordingly."

That last part was a joke, and Rowan and I both knew it. Damon Salvatore has always been, and still is my one weakness.

"_Klaus is enough of a danger to the Salvatore boy without your interference. He has been provoking him for the past several months, attempting to keep the doppelganger from his grasp, as well as sabotaging his attempt to create any more hybrids. Klaus' patience has worn thin with him. We will need to act quickly if you wish to save him_."

I swallowed thickly. I had been gone from Mystic Falls for more than a century, and it seemed Damon had only grown more reckless with immortality. Why would he purposely bait Klaus? Surely he knew by now how powerful the hybrid was.

"Don't worry, Rowan. I'm bringing my A-game," I said teasingly, wondering if he even knew what I meant.

"_You and your twenty first century colloquialisms_," he scoffed.

I laughed at him.

I had known for years that I was the only thing that kept him current. If Rowan had his way, he would live under a rock. I had not seen him for a few years, having been researching Klaus' whereabouts in Europe. Rowan traveled frequently as well, doing his own research. I knew aside from questioning me about Damon, he was really wondering when I would be coming home to see him.

"I will return soon," I promised him, and we both knew I would be seeing Damon again before I came home. I expected a lecture, but it did not come.

"_I shall see you then_," he said simply before disconnecting.

I smiled, and shoved my phone into the snug pocket of my jeans. I was desperate to see Damon again, and this time I did not give my voice of reason any opportunity to try to sway my decision. Closing my eyes, I thought of my panther form and began to feel the shimmer of my transformation. When I reopened my eyes, I was running on four legs, heading swiftly in the direction of the Salvatore Boarding House.

I arrived in minutes, and scanned the area with my acute sight and hearing before slowly prowling across the open lawn to the magnolia tree that hung over a portion of the house.

I noticed his car parked in the driveway, and I heard his footsteps on the first floor. I scaled the magnolia tree with ease, and once I was high enough I silently stepped onto the roof over the window. I stretched out on the rooftop, noticing the blue sheen that my black coat gave off in the moonlight.

I knew I should be at home, but I couldn't make myself stay away from Damon, not yet at least.

I remembered how charming he had been the first time I had met him at the old train depot in Mystic Falls. It was the fall of 1860, and Rowan had sent me a telegraph with instructions to come to Mystic Falls. My train didn't arrive until nightfall, and the depot was empty with the exception of a very attractive dark haired man.

Beneath me, a door suddenly closed and startled me. I heard the tell-tale clinking of ice against a glass, and I knew that this room that I was perched above must be Damon's.

_Is his life really so awful that he has to drink all the time?_ I wondered sadly.

I thought about shifting back, knocking on the front door, and telling him the truth. I was missing him immensely even though I was this close to him. I dug my claws into the roof, as if to keep myself rooted there. As much as I hated to admit it, and I did hate to admit it, I should avoid Damon. I knew my feelings for him would only strengthen the longer I was around him, which would only complicate things.

_But he remembers me! Maybe not everything, granted, but he KNOWS that he knew me. _

I wished for a moment that he could overcome everything that Rowan had compelled him to forget so many years ago. The first time we met at the train station, when he asked Rowan's permission to court me, our first kiss, the Founder's Ball where we had our first dance, the first time we made love…

But I knew if he did remember all these things it would only hurt him to know after all that, that I had left him behind, taking his memories with me.

Four years. That's how long Damon and I had been together when circumstances beyond our control had forced us apart. Not long after I left Damon behind in Mystic Falls, I received word from Rowan that Damon had been killed tragically in the Battle of Willow Creek.

Unlike regular vampires, I lacked the ability of a humanity switch. I was unable to block out the crippling pain of losing Damon, so I was forced to feel it all. I ignored my responsibility of killing Klaus, I spent decades alternating between murderous blood binges, reeking havoc on anyone I could find, to then starving myself to the point of near desiccation the next. I ignored Rowan's attempts to contact me, and everything else for the most part, too. Eventually Rowan caught up with me and forced me to get my act together. He told me that a broken heart wasn't a good enough reason to allow Klaus to continue living. In truth, my heart had not felt broken, it felt entirely absent altogether.

That is, until yesterday, when I got word from Rowan that Damon Salvatore was in Mystic Falls.

I stretched my muscles as I yawned, and listened closely for any sounds coming from the room beneath me.

_Maybe he is asleep_, I concluded.

I was just about to leap down from the rooftop when the distinct sound of breaking glass coming from Damon's room shattered the silence around me.

**A/N** **I hope all of you are enjoying this! I know that there wasn't a lot of Damon in this chapter, but it was necessary to introduce Rhiannon and give you her background. I promise there will be much more Damon to come! ;)**

**And as always, thank you for your follows and reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Okay worked on this chapter all night last night and I have to say I'm pretty satisfied with it, you all will have to let me know what you think of it, what you like, don't like, etc. This is in Damon's POV, because I wanted to jump back to him and what's going on inside his head=) I also backed up a little, to capture his POV from the tail end of the first chapter.**

**Chapter song: Bloodstream by Stateless**

**Chapter 3**

**Damon's POV**

After Ric's untimely interruption, Rhiannon had vanished. For the second time tonight, I fought the urge to snap his neck. _Meddling bastard._

I inhaled deeply, noticing that Rhiannon's intoxicating scent was still every bit as powerful, almost as if she had never left. Weird.

I clued Ric in on Rhiannon, told him about her compulsion immunity, and her toothpick handiwork.

"Christ!" he shouted, wide-eyed and shaking his head. "Who the fuck is she?"

_Well ain't THAT the question of the hour?_

I remembered the vision I had of the two of us, dancing and laughing. She had seemed happier in the vision, not having that preoccupied look of concern in her eyes that she had now. Whatever troubled her, I wanted to end it. I had decided I had forgiven her for the toothpick incident. I always carried a soft spot for spunky women, and she had been right to assume I wasn't going to allow her to leave me in the bar. Hell, I'd still have her in my arms now if Ricky boy hadn't graced us with his presence. Oh yeah, Ric's still standing here.

"Rhiannon," I said, finally answering him. I realized at once that I liked saying her name.

Fuck! I groaned internally. I did not want to think of her this way. At least not until I had determined exactly what and who she is.

And what the hell was that vision about? I took another deep breath, still smelling her, and exhaled slowly. I perused my surroundings, but Rhiannon was no where in sight.

"I need another drink," I confessed to Ric.

"Didn't you just have one?" he smarted off, gesturing toward the last couple drops of blood that had accumulated on the corner of my mouth.

"I meant bourbon, you dick," I sneered back at him, quickly licking my mouth clean. Suddenly, I was overcome with guilt from feeding from her. I hadn't intended for it to happen. And it wasn't an I'm-gonna-fucking-kill-you-and-drain-you-dry sort of thing. It was more of an I'm-really-trying-to-figure-out-how-I-know-you-and-you're-turning-me-on thing. I found consolation when I remembered her moaning my name, smirking at the memory. Everything about her captivated me. I wanted to know her, to know what she knew about me, to know what she meant about protecting me, to know what the hell that vision was. And most of all I wanted to know why everything about her was so familiar to me. When she looked up at me with those wide green eyes full of concern, I almost felt…

_Hell, no! Fuck that!_ No more pesky feelings. They were massively overrated in my book, always lighting the way to the closest bottle of bourbon, always returning to plague any sober thoughts I might have. Sometimes I didn't know why I didn't just take a cue from Stefan and flip my own switch and be done with it all. But I knew the reason. Though I'd rather be staked than to admit it, I liked my humanity. I'd rather feel something, even pain and rejection, than the emptiness of nothing at all.

"Are you so sure you need more alcohol tonight?" Ric quipped. Ignoring him, I stood silently and walked back to the Grill. I could hear Ric's footsteps trailing me. You would think a closet vampire hunter would have a quieter stride.

Once inside the bar, I ignored Ric's disapproving head shakes and ordered another drink. I'm not sure why he was on 'Damon Patrol' tonight anyway. Clearly, he was in need of a new hobby, for both of our sakes.

I downed the amber liquid, hardly noticing the burn. I decided to save myself from hearing any more of Ric's incessant bitching and call it a night.

**(A LITTLE WHILE LATER AT THE BOARDING HOUSE)**

I tried to distract myself from thinking of Rhiannon, but it proved to be useless. I wished I had her here with me now. I wanted to feel her in my arms and forget everything else. At least for a little while. The memory of having her pushed up against that brick wall, moaning my name, thrilled and excited me. Wherever she was, I would find her. If I couldn't compel the truth out of her, I would do my damnedest to kiss it out of her.

For a moment, I relished in the idea of having someone completely to myself.

Someone that wasn't equally infatuated with Stefan.

Someone that loved me for who I was.

Someone that I would never have to share.

I snorted at my ridiculousness, and shoved the bothersome, hopeful thoughts away. I could see I was desperately in need of a distraction, so I turned on the television.

To my extreme irritation, I discovered Stefan had left Twilight in the DVD player. I shook my head distastefully, turning the damned thing back off. My hair-shaping, Bambi-killing, baby brother was the only REAL vampire that found Edward Cullen entertaining.

And for God's sake! The least Stefan could do was remember to take the damned thing out of the player and put it back in its case! Stefan never did have time for things like cleaning and putting things back in order. Hell, just look at his bedroom! I guess brooding is just too time consuming.

I got up from the couch and walked over to make myself another drink. Reluctantly, I worried that Ric might be right. Maybe I should stop drinking so much. Maybe all the bourbon had finally begun to pickle my brain. That WOULD explain that vision. I brought the glass to my lips and deliberated for a moment. I decided that even if the bourbon WAS to blame for the vision, which I heavily doubted, I wouldn't mind risking it if it meant I could see Rhiannon again.

_Damn it! Stop thinking about her already_! I chided myself. I swallowed the drink in its entirety, refilled my glass and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. I closed the door behind me, and walked over to my neatly made bed. I was about to set my drink on the nightstand when a new vision flooded my mind.

My own sight faded, and all I saw was Rhiannon, lying naked in my arms, peacefully sleeping. I could not help but marvel at how beautiful she was, her auburn red hair cascaded all around her. I quickly noticed a difference between this new vision and the first one. I had only watched the scene of the two of us dancing and laughing play out in the first vision. Now, looking down at the gorgeous woman in my arms, I realized in addition to seeing in this vision, I could _**feel.**_

And looking down at Rhiannon sleeping, I felt very protective of her. I _**loved **_her.

I was only vaguely aware of the sound of shattering glass, as my drink slipped out of my hand. I was too stunned by this new revelation to care. I fought hard to keep the vision from fading away, but it shimmered away as quickly as it came.

The vision was real. It had to be. The love that emanated in my mind as that older version of me looked at Rhiannon was every bit as strong, if not stronger, than the unhealthy obsession I once held for Katherine or the pathetic unrequited puppy love I harbored for Elena. My sight returned, and I was very nearly crippled by an intense desire to see Rhiannon. I sat down unsteadily on my bed and buried my head in my hands.

It was obvious that I knew very little about her now, but I believed with every fiber of my damned soul that once upon a time, I had been very deeply in love with Rhiannon.

_But if it is true, if we were SO in love, why is it that I have no memory of it?_

I stepped over the broken glass shards and spilt bourbon, making my way to the front door in a trance-like state. For a brief moment I felt the urge to clean the mess, but I ignored it, even if it was the first time in my long (undead) life that I had left my room messy.

I needed answers, and she was the only one who could give them to me. I had no idea where to find her, where to even begin looking. I had a distinct feeling that Rhiannon could easily make herself scarce, if she desired.

Yes, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I bolted out the front door, nearly running into Rhiannon.

**A/N Hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 4 will be up soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**A/N I know some of you are really anxious for Rhiannon to clue Damon in on her secret. It won't happen in this chapter, but I promise it is in the works =) I'm working on Chapter 5 as quickly as I can manage, but I've unfortunately found myself at a crossroad concerning which direction I want to take the plot. I will say that no matter what, you will soon see a much more bad ass Rhiannon. I have tried not to make her too soft, but keep in mind that Damon is her one true love who she has kept herself away from for his own good for the past 162 years, so seeing him again is gonna bring out a lot of emotion in her. **

**For those of you who asked for a visualization of Rhiannon, I pictured Lucy Hale with deep red hair.**

**Chapter song: Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Heart by The Neverending White Lights**

_"Take this breath,_

_For the lives we waste,_

_For the hollow souls we own,_

_Give me hope,_

_For a restless heart."_

**3rd person POV**

Damon was overcome with emotion at the sight if her, the memory of loving her creeping closer to becoming a reality every second he was around her.

He stared into Rhiannon's worried eyes, immediately wishing he knew the cause of her trouble. Of course he knew if he came right out and asked her what was wrong, she probably wouldn't tell him.

_Damn evasive woman_, he thought. Damon sighed, and the sweet scent of jasmine hit him like a Mack truck.

"Are you alright?" Rhiannon asked urgently, searching for any sign of an injury.

Damon narrowed his eyes at her, deep in thought. Just as he was about to go searching for her, there she was on his doorstep, concerned about his safety.

"I'm fine," he said as his blue eyes hardened and raked over her suspiciously. "Why?"

"I heard glass and I -" the words flew out of Rhiannon's mouth too quickly for her to filter them.

_Dammit_, she thought. She hadn't wanted him to know that she had been lingering around, eavesdropping on him. It was bad enough that he had found her on his doorstep. Overcome with embarrassment, now that she knew Damon was safe, she forced her mouth to close. _My first instinct is always to be honest with him, that's my problem_, she told herself.

A sexy grin spread across Damon's face. He was delighted that she had been stalking him. As he always said, hot trumps weird. And Rhiannon was most assuredly hot.

"Wow. So is stalking a regular hobby of yours or am I just too damn good-looking for you to resist? I hope you left the toothpicks at home this time," he joked, but her eyes fell to the ground.

Unable to stop himself, he took a step closer to her, closing the gap between them. His hands pulled her face up to look at him. "What were you doing here?"

"I came to check on you."

That much was true. The intensity of his blue eyes was enough to cause her self control to crumble. Rhiannon had found the human version of Damon attractive enough, but the vampirism had raised his confidence and sex appeal through the roof. Unfortunately, immortality had also given him an unhealthy affinity for alcohol and made him emotionally unstable, she thought sorrowfully.

_He has enough problems without me making his life a bigger mess_, she told herself.

"By all means, check away," he smirked, wagging his eyebrows and doing his 'eye-thing.'

_What the hell is that and why is it so attractive_? Rhiannon wondered.

Gathering her courage, she stepped back away from him. The close proximity of his body made it difficult for her to form coherent thoughts, and it sure as hell clouded her judgment. Damon's face fell slightly at her action, but he composed himself quickly.

"So, you're a vampire," he declared, clearly it wasn't a question.

Rhiannon decided to allow this truth. Granted, she wasn't _just_ a vampire, but Damon didn't need to know all the details. Not yet anyway.

"Yes," she replied slowly, her voice cautious.

God, how he wished she would stop with the secrecy already. Even when Rhiannon _**did**_ divulge something, she almost looked like it pained her to do so. Damon didn't care. He was determined to extract some answers from her.

"A vampire that is older than me…" he continued. It was the only logical conclusion he could draw, if the visions were accurate. Rhiannon looked to be the exact same in front of him as she did in the dream. From the looks of her she couldn't have been older than twenty when she was turned.

Rhiannon met his eyes reluctantly, her green eyes clouded with hesitation. She was unsure of how he guessed this on his own, and didn't know whether she should confirm or deny his suspicion, so she stayed silent.

As he waited for her response, it occurred to Damon that she could've easily fought him off of her when he had bit her. But she didn't.

_I've drawn enough question marks tonight to last a lifetime_, he lamented.

"Why did you not stop me when I bit you? I know you could've if you wanted to."

"Because I was… enjoying myself. And I didn't want to hurt you," she conceded. She saw Damon grin, clearly pleased, and she decided to turn the questioning around on him. "What made you drop your drink?" she asked, choosing a question she hoped he would answer because she was legitimately curious to hear the reason. Vampires were generally not clumsy.

_No way in hell am I admitting to her I am having visions about her_, Damon thought. _At least not until I know more about them. And her,_ he added mentally. He wasn't even about to ask how she knew it was his drink that had fallen.

"It slipped," he lied and shrugged like it was a perfectly reasonable response.

Rhiannon's left eyebrow shot up skeptically and she folded her arms across her chest. "Really?"

Damon said nothing, only shrugged once more, indifferently.

"You're deflecting," she accused.

_Pot meet kettle, _his mind quipped. She had accused him of deflecting?

"So says the queen of evasion?" he sneered, still in disbelief that she had accused _**him**_ of deflecting.

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two of them, both peeved that the other was withholding truths. Damon sighed, and decided to break the silence by taking her face in his hands, and pressed their foreheads together.

"Tell me how you know me," he pleaded gently.

Rhiannon's breath caught in the back of her throat. She knew the sad truth was that she couldn't be completely honest with Damon, at least not until Klaus was dealt with. If Damon knew that she was part druid, that would only make him a bigger target. She swallowed back tears and closed her eyes, knowing that she needed to leave Damon alone, if she wanted to protect Damon.

When she opened her eyes, she saw something in Damon's eyes that she had not seen in more than a century.

Love.

His eyes were bright and gleaming. Rhiannon let out a whimpered sigh. She wondered what might've happened that caused it, what revelation he might've had, what all he knew. Of course these were all questions that she truly didn't give a damn about in this moment. She knew better, knew that she shouldn't, but she wanted him to remember everything they shared all those years ago. Rhiannon knew that for Damon to find her face familiar, which meant that Rowan's compulsion that made him forget her over a century before was fading somehow. To her, it was a blessing and a curse.

Knowing her willpower lay in shreds already, she allowed herself to let go. She seized Damon's mouth, kissing him with all the passion and love that she had kept locked inside of her for so long. With blinding speed, Rhiannon shoved him back against the front door, running her hands underneath his shirt to caress his stomach. As she began to plant wet kisses along his jaw line, she heard Damon take a ragged breath and felt him shudder beneath her. Smiling against his skin, she continued.

Damon was far past the point of merely enjoying himself. Rhiannon cared for him, wanted him. He could feel the worry in her eyes, he could feel the love in her kisses. Damon reveled at her being all over him. He almost came undone when she began nibbling on his ear. He wrapped one arm around her tightly, grabbed a fistful of that long glorious red hair and groaned her name.

_If I don't stop this now, I won't have the strength to stop in a few minutes,_ Rhiannon warned herself.

She placed her right hand on Damon's chest and slowly pushed herself away from him.

_What the hell is wrong NOW?_ Damon wondered impatiently. And then he noticed something for the first time.

A Claddagh ring adorned Rhiannon's right ring finger, turned in a way that the heart was pointing back to her, which indicated she was romantically attached to someone. He was suddenly so engulfed with jealousy, he could hardly see straight.

_She's toying with me. She is in love with someone else, and she is toying with me._

He threw his arms up in exasperation, turned and stepped back inside the Boarding House.

"Fine!" he snapped. "This 'she loves me, she loves me not' bullshit is getting old fast."

He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing he had seen her ring, and recognized its meaning. His heart ached, and he began to feel the pull to the half empty bottle of Maker's Mark that was inside.

Rhiannon couldn't help but flinch at the coldness in his voice, and she fought back tears when the love that lit his eyes turned into an icy glare.

Seeing her beautiful eyes brimming with tears nearly broke Damon. He hated to think he was the reason for any of Rhiannon's sadness but he could not risk being hurt again himself. One minute Rhiannon was being evasive and distant, and the next she had him nailed against a door, smothering him with her sweet kisses. And now this ring. Despite whatever feelings he had for her, new or dormant, Damon could not ignore the instinct to protect his heart.

Rhiannon gave him one short nod, and felt hot tears spill down her cheeks.

_See what you've done NOW?_ she chided herself.

Damon was hurt by her, angry with her, and she did not blame him.

If it wasn't for Klaus, she would have no reason to keep anything from him. They could share each other's secrets and be happy.

They could be together.

Her fists clenched at the thought of Klaus. How by murdering her mother, Klaus had deprived her of happiness as a child.

How he was still standing in the way of her happiness today.

_I'm coming for you, you murderous bastard, _she thought.

"Oh, and one more thing," Damon began coolly, "if you intend to hang around Mystic Falls, you should know about Klaus." He paused when he noticed her tensed body language, but continued, knowing he needed to give her the warning. Sure he was irritated at her behavior, hurt that she obviously belonged to someone else, but he sure as hell didn't want Klaus hurting her. "He's an Original, and an uber powerful mutant one, at that. Probably a good idea for you to stay away from him," he warned.

Damon was caught off guard when a wickedly amused laugh escaped Rhiannon's lips. He watched her in awe. Despite her laughing, her body was still tensed, as if she was poised for an attack, and there was an untamed fierceness in her eyes that he had never seen.

_She almost looks… dangerous,_ Damon mused.

"Damon, if you believe anything I tell you, believe this: the last thing I wish to do is stay _**away**_ from Klaus," she seethed.

He was about to ask her what she knew about Klaus when his cell phone vibrated repeatedly in his pocket. Damon's eyes only flickered away from her face for a moment, but it was long enough for Rhiannon to vanish.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Damon groaned, apparently to no one but himself. Beyond frustrated, he dug his phone from his pocket and saw it was Alaric who was calling.

_Of course. No one else has the balls to call me at 6am._

"Have I mentioned that your timing blows?" Damon said as he answered.

"Sorry if I woke you, but I was on my way into work and just wanted to make sure the toothpick wielding hot chick didn't off you in your sleep."

"Looks like another vampire has moved into our quaint little town."

"You're kidding. Who?"

_Fuck me! Are all humans this slow in the morning or is it just him? _Damon thought. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"Focus! The girl, Ric. Rhiannon," Damon said impatiently.

Something in the distance, a black figure, caught his eye as it disappeared into the tree line of the forest. "I'll regroup with you later on this. I gotta go now," he said shortly and effectively ended the phone call.

Rhiannon had taken advantage of Damon's distraction with his phone to race off and shift into her panther form. Once she thought she was far enough away from his sight, she paused at the forest's edge and thought about how hurt he had looked when she pulled away from him.

_I did the right thing, the responsible thing, _she chanted.

She stalked into the tree line, knowing that she would go home to Rowan. She was in desperate need of a training session to channel all her frustration into and she ran faster.

She never saw the black crow that followed her home.

**A/N Please review and tell me your thoughts!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N The first part of this chapter won't have as much Damon interaction in it. (I can practically hear your groans) I know, but I didn't create Rhiannon & Rowan (who you will meet in this chapter) to be fluffy characters. I wanted to give them their own storyline, independent of the other TVD stuff. I promise we will get to the Damon scenes soon!**

**Chapter 5 (3****rd**** POV)**

**Chapter Songs**

**Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin (on Rhiannon's iPod)**

**I Miss You by Blink-182**

'_**It must be your skin, I'm sinking in,**_

_**It must be for real, cause now I can feel.'**_

_**Glycerine by Bush**_

Rhiannon struggled hard to fight the pull that tethered her to Damon. She picked up her momentum, her large paws pounding against the forest floor, every bound carrying her closer to Leamineagh, the home she had not seen in ages.

In her feral form, Rhiannon arrived in less than ten minutes. Rowan had told her that the Battle of Willow Creek had claimed the above ground portion of the estate, but it was still a shock for her, seeing it for the first time in person.

There was nothing noticeable, nothing that stood out about the site. Anyone who wasn't looking for it would miss the moss and leaf covered trap door that was the entry to all that remained of Leamineagh.

Stealthily, Rhiannon prowled over to the door, pausing briefly to make sure she was alone. The only creature for a good quarter mile was a large black crow that was perched on a pine branch. Seeing nothing to cause any alarm, she used her mouth to take hold of the metal loop, raising it to open the door, and disappearing quickly.

Rhiannon stalked down a set of stairs, stopping at the base to visualize her true form, and felt the shimmer of her transformation.

There was an archway in front of her that led to an open room the size of a basketball court. The floor of the large room was covered with cushioned mats, the walls adorned with various weaponry, some of which Rhiannon was familiar with, others she had never seen. She knew instantly that this was the training room, where Rowan would help her sharpen every skill that she had honed over the past 500 years. Though she had trained by herself while she had been away, none of it compared to having Rowan as her combat opponent. It had been decades since she had trained with him, but she could easily recall how grueling his sessions were. Rowan never hesitated on using his full force on her. Not that she minded. They both knew that when the time came, Klaus would not handle her gently. The more prepared she was, the better.

Rowan was an older vampire than Rhiannon, just how old was information he had never disclosed. She was only marginally stronger than him, and he was definitely capable of hurting her.

Rhiannon looked up to see Rowan coming out of a doorway at the far end of the room. Seeing her, the dark-haired vampire rushed over to her, wrapping her in his arms.

Though she was a little caught off guard, Rhiannon was not entirely surprised. She knew Rowan would occasionally react this way when he went long periods of time without seeing her. He was beaming when he pulled back to look at her, his grey eyes misted with emotion. She watched his face harden as he inhaled, and she didn't need to wonder what his problem was. Rhiannon knew he could smell Damon Salvatore all over her.

*****A/N This next portion is still in 3****rd**** POV, but looks a bit more closely at Rowan*****

Rowan had just put the finishing touches on her room when he spied Rhiannon. The sight of her, especially after a long separation, was always enough to take his breath away. With her bright green eyes and dark red hair, Rhiannon was identical to her mother, Isolde. Sometimes Rowan thought fate had played a cruel joke on him, taking the life of the woman he would've given his very soul to for, and leaving him as the guardian of her daughter, her carbon copy.

Without her even knowing it, Rhiannon's face haunted him, forever serving as a reminder of the girl he could not save.

The extended trips that he had Rhiannon on, always under the pretenses of doing research on Klaus, were sometimes just excuses to distance himself from her. Occasionally, Rowan thought she suspected what he was doing, namely when his leads turned up nothing and his sources proved non-existent, but she never said anything.

Rowan had grown to love Rhiannon over the centuries, but never was it more than simply platonic. If he had never known Isolde, things may have been different, but Rowan's heart forever belonged to a woman who had been dead for 543 years, and he felt the sole purpose of his existence was to aid her daughter in avenging her death.

When she spied him, Rhiannon's face lit up, much the way Isolde's used to. Rowan rushed to her, taking her in his arms to hold her. His arms hugged Rhiannon, but his heart was hugging Isolde. With a deep sigh, he broke the embrace and forced himself back to reality. Rowan had just pulled back to look at her when _**his**_ scent hit him.

Rowan knew that she had seen Damon once already earlier in the night, but this fresh scent confirmed his suspicion that she had seen him again. Very recently, from the smell of it. Rowan's jaw clenched and his storm cloud colored eyes narrowed. He was not jealous, nor did he want to begrudge her any happiness. But he had seen the strength of her love for this boy 150 years ago, and Rowan worried that she would sacrifice anything for Damon, especially if it meant saving him.

Rhiannon had always been a very obedient pupil, excelled at everything he taught her, always taking his advice on every subject. Except when it came to Damon Salvatore. She loved Damon. Rhiannon had ignored his pleas to stop seeing the boy, he had never seen her so unruly. The only reasoning she had listened to was when Rowan told her if she continued to see Damon, her actions would place him in danger. She agreed to leave town forever, and have Rowan compel him to forget her. But even Rowan knew that she did this because of her love for Damon, not because she was giving into his wishes. He remembered the haunted sorrow in her eyes the night they had that discussion. Rowan thought for a moment she would beg him to turn Damon into a vampire, but she did not. She knew all too well that Rowan never wished to condemn another soul to this life. Sometimes he thought if she had the ability to turn Damon herself, she would've done it, but Rhiannon lacked the ability. One of the effects of her being a druid vampire hybrid, much like the sunlight and compulsion immunities.

In part, Rowan was thankful to learn that Damon had been turned into a vampire when he returned to Mystic Falls a couple years ago. He debated on whether or not he should notify Rhiannon of the fact, and ultimately deciding it was best she did know. He knew she would be sad she had missed him, as she undoubtedly believed Damon would perish a human's fate. Rowan had worried when he told her Damon was now a vampire, that she would jeopardize her identity to be with him. But she stayed away, only returning to Mystic Falls when Rowan requested her to, after he learned Klaus was in town.

Rowan doubted that Rhiannon truly knew how special she was, the miracle of her existence, the importance of her destiny. Rowan was certain that Klaus had eradicated all the druids because he believed them to be a threat to him. Even centuries of researching legends and tales had done little in the way of devising a theory to kill Klaus, but Rowan was positive that Rhiannon was the crucial key to permanently ridding the world of Klaus.

She was the only one left who could truly kill him.

And her love for Damon would be a dangerous distraction.

Rhiannon could see that Rowan was plainly vexed with her. She knew that he knew she had just left Damon, but she was unremorseful.

_What did he THINK was gonna happen when I came back to Mystic Falls and saw Damon? That I'd just forget about everything? Besides, I have the ability to make my own decisions. As long as I have my head in the game where Klaus is concerned, I will see who I please, _Rhiannon thought smugly.

Ultimately deciding he did not wish to argue with her quite so soon, Rowan swallowed his irritation. He knew that with Klaus in the same town, it was crucial that they begin sharpening her fighting skills immediately.

"The room that I just exited is yours," Rowan told her. I have supplied it with all your necessities. You should probably go change into your combat suit to avoid wasting anymore time."

Rhiannon looked at him and nodded before brushing past him to her room. She opened the door and was awestruck. The room had formerly been Rowan's, but he had done a great deal of redecorating. The room was painted the palest of pinks, almost white in color. There was a sprawling chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a gigantic antique damask mirror that hung above the fireplace. The four poster bed at the far right of the room was so high she knew she would have to jump up to get into it.

Rowan had obviously put a great deal if effort into renovating it for her. For a moment she felt sorry for staring him down over being with Damon, but she shoved the thought away and cleared her mind and cleansed her body with a much needed shower.

vVvVv

After her shower, Rhiannon plaited her hair into one long fishbone braid that fell over her right shoulder and touched her hip. She reapplied her makeup and dressed in her combat suit, a black jumpsuit that was like a second skin and her favorite thigh high boots. The belt that was molded around her hips was lined with wooden stakes and vervain tipped wooden bullets, and there was a holster secured around her left thigh holding a gun filled with vervain darts.

Rhiannon entered the training room, and saw Rowan waiting for her.

"If that's _my_ room, where are you staying?" she questioned him. The only room Rhiannon had at Leamineagh was in the above ground portion that was now destroyed.

"I have my own place now. What remains here is now your's," he replied, trying to sound indifferent.

"This is… mine?" Rhiannon asked, not quite being able to wrap her head around the idea. She used her vampire speed and flashed to Rowan in an instant and threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Rowan!"

Rowan was taken completely by surprise at her reaction. "You are most welcome," he managed before his wits returned, and he pried her off of him. "But enough of this, we have things to do," he instructed, and with that distanced himself 50 paces across from her.

Rhiannon nodded. She knew Rowan was emotionally bankrupt, and she never held that against him.

She placed the earphones to her iPod in her ears, and was pleasantly surprised to see Rowan doing the same thing, trying to seem stoic as he adjusted his own earphones.

Rhiannon giggled to herself. She had sent him an iPod last year as a Christmas gift, but never once thought he would even take it out of the box. _Well someone has to keep him up with the times,_ she thought.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Always," she replied, shifting her body into a defensive crouch.

vVvVv

Rowan and Rhiannon had been training for almost a straight hour. In that time, she had been kicking his ass all over the training room until Rowan had caught her with a swift kick to her ribs, and she felt at least two of them crack. She had sucked in a deep breath in response to the pain when he gashed her right cheekbone with the wooden stake he was wielding, and knocked her to the ground. Rowan felt badly when he saw how hurt she was, especially knowing that her healing was slower than an average vampire.

_Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on her right from the start, this is only our first session_, he thought somberly.

Rowan was about to help Rhiannon up and retrieve a blood bag for her out of the cooler when out of nowhere, a blurred figure launched itself in a protective crouch over Rhiannon and growled menacingly at him.

It was Damon.

"Touch her again and I'll kill you," Damon hissed.

**A/N Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will include MUCH more Rhiannon/Damon interaction, and she will finally come clean with him about who she really is. **

**All of your favorites/follows/comments really do make my day. I respond to every question, if you have any for me =)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I just wanted to say that I'm beyond thrilled that you guys are enjoying the storyline! The reviews really do make my day =) First part of this chapter is from Damon's POV and will be backed up to where he (in his crow form) watched Rhiannon (in her panther form) enter the trap door to Leamineagh. I hope you guys don't get frustrated or confused at the POV changes, but sometimes 3****rd**** person just doesn't grasp all the character's feelings, at least not the way I write, anyway. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 6**

**Chapter song: Pieces by Red**

'_**Then I see your face, I know I'm finally yours,**_

_**I find everything, I thought I lost before.'**_

**Damon's POV**

It was times like these, when I was perched daintily on a branch, staring at a huge ass cat, that I wished the animal I could shift into was a tad more intimidating than a crow.

I had a thousand different questions in my mind. Most of them had to do with Rhiannon, but I shoved them away and attempted to focus on the task at hand. I was certain that this creature was spying on me from the moment I saw it outside the Boarding House. Initially I had thought it had something to do with Klaus, but the cat didn't smell like any of that bastard's minions. The cat actually smelled … pleasant.

This was all too much weirdness, even for me. I knew at that moment I was either going to give up drinking all together or do a whole lot more of it.

The enormous black cat had halted to look around at its surroundings. I ruffled my feathers and tried to appear inconspicuous. Should I whistle? No, crows don't whistle, you idiot. My curiosity piqued when I watched the feline glance right at me, with a very familiar shade of green eyes, before it disappeared through a hidden door.

Just what I need. Another twist. What the hell is going on?

I waited awhile, but the animal did not re-emerge from the door. I guess its now or never. I spread my wings to coast to the ground. There was a haze of fog, and I landed on the forest floor on my own two feet. I exhaled, and ran my hand through my hair, instantly grateful I was no longer covered in feathers, and that my heightened senses were back. I walked over to the same spot where the green-eyed creature had gone, and raised the camouflaged door and lowered myself through it. As soon as the door closed behind me my sight was gone, and I was seeing another reality.

Another vision.

This one was different, longer. Rhiannon and I were in my father's carriage, enjoying a late afternoon ride through the forest. Then I heard the voices of men, shouting, and felt the abrupt stop of the carriage. I heard a gunshot sound, and knew that the driver had just been killed.

I felt my instinct to protect Rhiannon kick in. Regretfully I remembered that I was unarmed, but I knew that I would still protect her with my life. I would allow no harm to come to her while there was still breath in my body. I looked into her green eyes, expecting to see terror, but I saw none. Instead, I saw that her eyes mirrored mine: full of the need to protect.

"Stay here," Rhiannon pleaded with me quietly. "Promise me that you will stay here."

Before I could nod or give any sign of agreement, her lips were on mine. She kissed me ferociously, and then vanished from my sight. It wasn't until I heard the terrified cries of the men outside that I realized where she had gone.

Hurriedly, I exited the carriage. Four of the six men were now dead, scattered around us. I was watching her snap the neck of the fifth, when she looked up in horror to see me watching. A smart man would be scared, but I couldn't find an ounce of fear in me. Before I could say anything to her, a gunshot rang out, and I heard Rhiannon scream out.

But it was not she who was hurt. I groaned as I felt the bullet rip through my left shoulder. I staggered and fell backwards, but Rhiannon's arms caught me before I hit the ground.

Then the vision faded and my true sight returned to me. This was just getting too weird. Looks like I am gonna be forced to ask Rhiannon what all these visions mean.

I ignored the events of the vision, and paused about halfway down the dilapidated staircase when I heard the sounds of a struggle. Maybe the kitty had gotten hungry?

But as I continued to eavesdrop, it was clear that this was the sound of two people fighting. Quite hard, as I was certain I just heard a couple bones break.

Then the smell hit me. A delicious scent that infiltrated my nose that I recognized immediately, having only smelled it several hours before.

Rhiannon's blood. She was here and she was in trouble.

Damn it! To hell with the cat! I had been too worried about the wildlife when I should've been making sure she was alright. Guilt and panic nipped at my dead heart. I knew if anything happened to Rhiannon, there would be no switch to make it go away, and not enough bourbon in the world to drown the pain away.

I sped to the bottom of the stairs and then I saw Rhiannon. Her face was bloodied and she was crumpled on the floor. By the sounds of her breathing, she had more extensive internal injuries. Then, the culprit began to advance on her once more, probably desiring to finish her off.

I flashed over, fast even for me, and used my body to shield her and snarled at the monster in front of me. He would not touch her again, I would not allow it.

"Touch her again and I'll kill you," I managed to choke out, my voice filled to the brim with hatred. I knew that my words were a lie, as I was already contemplating all the ways I would disfigure him as soon as he turned his back on me. I haven't disemboweled someone in a long time, I reminded myself.

Then a voice pulled me from my murderous thoughts. The only voice that could.

"Damon! Please, Damon! Its okay!" Rhiannon begged me, clutching frantically at my shoulders.

Okay? How the hell was anything about this situation okay? This fucker had beat the hell out of her! Why would she be defending him?

"What the hell is this?" the attacker's voice boomed, his speech mildly accented. He obviously doesn't know me well enough to know what a mistake he had just made.

I raised my hand to backhand him against the wall, but Rhiannon reached up to still it just in time.

"Damon, it's okay. This is my mentor Rowan, we weren't really fighting, He was just helping me train," her words came out in a rush.

**3****rd**** POV**

"What the hell?" Damon repeated Rowan's words, glancing back and forth between the two of them. His mind struggled to accept that he did not need to avenge Rhiannon, but Damon found he still wanted to.

Rowan glared dangerously at Damon. _This boy has only grown to be more foolish over the ages, _he thought. _How dare he intrude! How dare he threaten me! I will show him I -_Rowan was about to advance on Damon, when he looked, really looked, into his eyes.

Rowan realized that Damon thought he was protecting Rhiannon, that he would do anything, even risk his own life for her. Damon was in love. He had seen this look in his eyes back in 1861, before he had compelled it away. How did he love her this much already? At most, Rowan knew they could've only been around each other for a few hours, but Damon acted as if he had never forgotten her, like the compulsion had never taken place.

"How did you get down here?" Rowan demanded harshly, so angry still that his voice lilted with his Irish accent. Damon caught it, and immediately connected it with the Claddagh ring that adorned Rhiannon's right ring finger.

_This is who she belongs to. That's why she doesn't want me to hurt him_, Damon thought, knowing he now wanted to take Rowan out more than ever.

"Not your concern, friend," Damon said coldly. _I don't owe this bastard anything! He already owns the one thing I want!_ Damon thought.

_This was getting off to a terrific start_, Rhiannon thought. _Just like when they first met in 1860. They despised each other then and clearly a century and a half has changed nothing._

The two men continued to glare at each other hatefully. Rhiannon wondered how Damon had found Leamineagh. He couldn't have followed her, she had been cautious and no one was around for miles when she entered through the trap door.

Rowan shifted his glare from Damon to Rhiannon, and his hateful look changed into one of pity. Then Rowan turned and stalked away, wordlessly.

Damon turned to face her. Somehow just looking at her made everything about him feel better. Even bruised and bloody, she was enchanting. He noticed that her breathing had returned to normal and that the gash on her cheek had healed mostly, leaving behind a few dried trails of blood. As his mind adjusted to knowing Rhiannon was on the mend, his suspicion took control.

"Who the hell was THAT? Your boyfriend?" Damon knew the questions would expose him for exactly what he was - jealous- but he couldn't bring himself to give a damn.

Rhiannon sighed deeply as she felt her very soul being pierced by the depths of his blue eyes. She knew he was remembering the things he had been forced to forget so long ago. She was certain Damon remembered that they had once been in love. And he was jealous. Rhiannon had never want to lie to him, she only wanted to protect him. Lying to him had been killing her, so she would not lie to him anymore.

"Damon, that was Rowan. He is not, nor has he ever been, anything more than a teacher to me," she said. "He has been with me since the beginning."

Damon raised himself to his feet sinuously and helped her to her feet. "Timeout. We will come back to that in a sec. What is this place?" he asked, his eyes taking in everything from medieval weaponry to gym equipment to classic works of art.

"This is Leamineagh. Rowan named it after his home in Ireland centuries ago. There used to be more to it above ground, but it was greatly damaged in the war and over time fell into ruin. But the underground portion of the house has remained," Rhiannon said and motioned for Damon to follow her, which he did. "This is my room," she told him as they entered the beautifully decorated room. Rhiannon took a seat on the chaise lounge a few feet from the fireplace and watched Damon.

He was wearing dark wash denim and a black t-shirt that was so tight fitted it did little to conceal how muscular he was. Damon hesitated, and leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms across his chest. His brow was furrowed, and his jaw clenched.

"So you live here? With _**him**_?"

Rhiannon struggled not to laugh at Damon's blatant jealously. _I already told him there's nothing between Rowan and I. Why does he not believe me?_ she wondered.

"Actually, I live here alone now. Leamineagh is now mine. Rowan lives elsewhere," she politely informed him.

Damon was perplexed_. If they were together, why did they live apart? Or maybe this is just another one of her games. Maybe she is still toying with me._

"Do you really think I believe the two of you aren't lovers? Do you think I'm that stupid!"

"Damon, I already told you! Rowan and I are NOT together! Its never been like that for us, and it never will be! What is wrong with you?" Rhiannon asked, incredulous.

Damon's eyes narrowed at the Claddagh ring on her finger. "THAT is my problem. I know what those mean. And the manner that you are wearing it suggests you are unavailable, that you are romantically linked to someone. So, pray tell, if it isn't _**Rowan**_, then who is the lucky man? The suspense is killing me." he sneered.

Rhiannon had not anticipated that he would notice her ring. She looked down at the piece of jewelry she had cherished for more than 100 years, and smiled softly. If Damon was jealous of whoever had given her the Claddagh ring, jealous of whoever she was 'romantically linked' to, then he was jealous of himself. Damon had given her the ring after the night of the first Founder's Ball. Rhiannon remembered how he looked that night, the innocence all over his face, trembling with nervousness as he placed it on her finger.

Rhiannon blurred to his side. Damon blinked and tried to distance himself from her, but she caught his face in her small hands.

"_**You**_, Damon. That lucky man is _**you**_."

**A/N I know I said in my Chapter 5 notes that Rhiannon would tell all of her secrets to Damon, however I did not anticipate that Chapter 6 would accumulate so many words so quickly. (Also, Damon's jealousy got the best of him, and he found himself caring more about Rhiannon's ring than about what happened to the panther=)**

**Chapter 7, Rhiannon will tell him the WHOLE truth. Stay tuned & review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Wow! You guys are AMAZING! I love, LOVE, love getting your feedback! I can't believe we are up to Chapter 7 already. I will apologize ahead of time if my updates come a little slower. Pretty much Chapters 1-4 were already in my head initially, & KimmyWSmith gave me an interesting idea about incorporating another Original into the storyline (I'll leave said Original unnamed for now=.) I think the culmination is gonna be awesome, but for right now, everything after this Chapter is still in rough draft stages. On the bright side, looks like my time slot for Thursday nights is freed up from now until mid-March! I promise not to make any of you wait that long for an update!**

*****Damon's visions are not coming to him in chronological order! He is receiving them randomly*****

**Previously:**

_Damon's eyes narrowed at the Claddagh ring on her finger. "THAT is my problem. I know what those mean. And the manner that you are wearing it suggests you are unavailable, that you are romantically linked to someone. So, pray tell, if it isn't __**Rowan**__, then who is the lucky man? The suspense is killing me." he sneered._

_Rhiannon had not anticipated that he would notice her ring. She looked down at the piece of jewelry she had cherished for more than 100 years, and smiled softly. If Damon was jealous of whoever had given her the Claddagh ring, jealous of whoever she was 'romantically linked' to, then he was jealous of himself. Damon had given her the ring after the night of the first Founder's Ball. Rhiannon remembered how he looked that night, the innocence all over his face, trembling with nervousness as he placed it on her finger._

_Rhiannon blurred to his side. Damon blinked and tried to distance himself from her, but she caught his face in her small hands._

_"__**You**__, Damon. That lucky man is __**you**__."_

**Chapter 7**

**Chapter Song: Epiphany by Staind**

**3****rd**** POV**

Damon blinked rapidly, not quite believing Rhiannon's words. He stumbled backward, bumping into the doorframe, and once again his sight left him.

In this vision, Damon and Rhiannon were in a carriage, on her way back from the Founder's Ball at the Lockwood estate. He fell in love with her all over again, looking at her across from him, the moonlight glinting off of her porcelain skin and her cinnamon-colored hair shining. Damon knew from looking at her that he wanted to spend the rest of his days with Rhiannon. When they arrived at Leamineagh, he helped her from the carriage, and pulled her securely into his arms and kissed her. Damon broke the kiss, and reached into his jacket pocket.

"I have something for you. I would like nothing more than for you to wear it, if you would," he told her nervously. Damon could practically feel the rush of blood to his cheeks as he watched the human version of himself fumble with opening the ring box.

He slipped the Claddagh ring onto her right ring finger, watching her face light up. "I love you Rhiannon. Most ardently. I long for the day that I may place this ring upon your left hand and pray to God above that you will do me the honor of becoming my wife."

Damon saw Rhiannon's eyes water, and she threw her arms around him strongly, nearly knocking him backward. "And I love you Damon. I will love you until the end of time. Nothing would make me happier than to be your wife."

The vision faded and Damon re-gained his sight to see Rhiannon staring back at him. Her eyes were vast green pools, full of love. The intensity of emotion emanating inside Damon even after the vision subsided overwhelmed him. He knew she was being truthful with him about the ring. He would've been certain of that even without the vision's validation.

_**He had given her the ring.**_

_**He really did love her.**_

Rhiannon's eyes told him that she loved him back, that she had always loved him. Damon wanted to accept this truth, to embrace it. Part of Damon wanted to rejoice and revel at this, but the other part screamed at him to distance himself as much as possible from her. Love made him vulnerable, and he knew his heart couldn't handle the devastation of another break.

_I can't do this, _he thought. _Not again. If she really did love me, if we really loved each other, then where has she been all these years?_

Rhiannon saw that Damon was struggling, and she instantly wished there was something-anything-she could do to make it easier for him.

_It will be alright now, _Rhiannon told herself. _Everything will be alright now. Now he knows and I will not let any harm come to him now. I will take care of Klaus and Damon will no longer be in danger._

She raised herself to kiss Damon's lips, but as she brought her hands to his cheeks, he flinched away and forced her hands down with his iron grip. The pain of rejection seared through Rhiannon. She fought hard to swallow the lump in her throat and the tears that threatened to escape her eyes.

Damon averted his eyes away from her, not able to withstand watching her heart break, especially knowing he was the cause. He stared blankly at the empty fireplace.

_What the hell is my problem? _He yelled at himself. _She is all I can think about. I can't stand being away from her, and the moment I'm finally sure she cares for me, I push her away?_

He knew his actions weren't making sense, but Damon could not help himself. In all his years, the couple times he HAD felt love it was trailed by crippling heartbreak. As much as Damon wanted to love and be loved in return, it was his innate instinct to reject it.

He closed his eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of his nose. Her rich jasmine scent, in addition to her skin tight black jumpsuit, did very little to aid his willpower. Damon reminded himself of one crucial question that he had almost forgotten about. Something he needed to ask her about. The panther.

"What's with the overgrown house cat? I saw it come down here," he asked her.

Rhiannon blinked her tears away, and backed away from him slowly.

"Keep calm," she instructed.

Damon rolled his eyes dramatically. "Cool as a cucumber," he smirked.

_At least he is looking at me now,_ she thought.

She closed her eyes, and visualized her panther form. She felt the shimmer subside. And heard Damon's sharp intake of breath. Rhiannon opened her eyes and saw Damon staring at her with his mouth hanging open. For a brief moment, she wondered if showing him her secret was a mistake.

_No,_ Rhiannon thought. _No more secrets now._

Damon was floored. He knew Rhiannon had knowledge of the panther, but he never suspected she **was** the panther.

_What is this? Some weird ass mutation of the werewolf gene? _he pondered. _No, that doesn't pan out. Its daylight for one. She did this at will, not to mention, she doesn't seem out of control. Not yet,_ he amended.

"So you're still you right? I mean you're not gonna attack me, are you?"

_So eloquent, _Rhiannon thought sarcastically, rolling her big green eyes at him.

Damon smirked at the massive black cat before him. _The eyes, I should have known,_ he thought. His blue eyes watched warily as the panther bared a full set of pointed teeth then crouched into an attack position. Damon moved fast, but the panther was faster. He was knocked down, completely on his back, by the large cat. The panther now sprawled out leisurely on top of him.

Even though he had witnessed the transformation with his own eyes, it was still hard for Damon to believe the animal laying on his body was Rhiannon. The creature's heavy paws covered his shoulders, and he could feel a smooth tail flicking back and forth between his feet.

"Rhiannon," he breathed, her name almost sounding like a question.

The panther's body shook as she made a noise that resembled laughter. She brought her face mere centimeters away from Damon's, so close that her whiskers tickled his face. Her ears flattened and she hissed menacingly, and then in one slow movement, she licked him from his neck to his hairline.

"Oh, come on!" Damon complained. He was about to try to roll out from underneath her when his sight vanished, and despair ripped through him.

There was no happiness to be felt in this vision, only an agonizing sorrow that consumed him. Damon could see himself crumpled in the floor of his barn, bawling at the memory of Rhiannon telling him she was leaving, that they couldn't be together, and that he would never see her again. The deadening pain of the memory knocked the wind out of him.

_She left me. Just like Katherine. Just like Elena, _he thought hopelessly.

Rhiannon noticed the change in Damon as his eyes and body suddenly went rigid. Without hesitating, she closed her eyes and shimmered back to her more familiar form.

"Damon! Damon, please tell me what's wrong! What's happening?" she pleaded urgently. Rhiannon was panicking. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his eyes refocus on her. But her relief was short lived, as she noticed the cold and distant look in his eyes. Abruptly he was out from underneath her and half way across the room. Damon focused on the fireplace as he spoke.

"You left me," Damon accused her lividly.

"Damon, what are you -"

"Don't insult me by pretending you don't remember!" he roared. "You left me like I meant _**nothing**_ to you!"

Rhiannon flinched at his shouting. _How is he remembering this? He must not remember everything or he would understand a little more…_

"Damon, please let me explain. After that I will do anything you want."

Damon suddenly whirled around to face her, unleashing the full force of his crystalline blue eyes on her.

"You know what I want, Rhiannon? **Leave. Me. Alone.** I don't want to see you again. Go back to wherever the hell it is that you came from and stay there!" Damon shouted. His heart wrenched at the falsehood of his lies.

Hot tears fell down Rhiannon's face. She couldn't bear meeting Damon's hateful eyes. Instead she stared down at the ring he gave her lifetimes ago. Damon followed her gaze and for a moment, he felt his face soften. He forced the calculated mask back on his face.

"You may as well get rid of that thing," he said, gesturing toward the ring. "It doesn't mean a damn thing to me anymore." He had intended to sound angry but his voice betrayed him, instead sounding broken. Damon walked briskly to the doorway, pausing briefly to look back at Rhiannon. She stole one last glance at him, and saw his beautiful blue eyes were tormented with anger and haunted with sorrow. He lingered for a moment, and then he was gone.

Rhiannon could not find the strength to stand anymore. She sank to the floor, and bawled loudly into her hands.

_He doesn't understand,_ she told herself. _Somehow, he is remembering what happened, but he is not remembering all of it._

Rhiannon forced herself to her feet and wiped her tears away. She inhaled a deep breath and saw her reflection in the mirror.

_Ugh! I look awful!_ she thought as she noticed her face was matted with runny mascara and old dried blood from training with Rowan. She quickly retrieved a few bags of O- from the cooler that she knew Rowan kept underneath the staircase, and sucked them down quickly.

Rhiannon did not _need _to consume human blood to survive. In fact, she could mostly survive on cooked human food with the occasional blood of an animal. But she knew consuming human blood would strengthen her and fortify her senses. Things she would need to battle Klaus. She scrubbed her face clean and when she looked in the mirror once more, she saw that the blood had rendered her pale skin luminous.

She dressed in another pair of dark jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. Rhiannon laced up the pair of black thigh high boots Rowan had specially crafted for her.

The 5" spiked heels were wooden and could easily double for stakes. A ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when Rowan came to mind._He is the solution to this, _she mused. _Rowan can give Damon his memory back, and then he will understand._She finished lacing the last boot and let her thick red hair loose from her braid, shaking it out around her, letting it fall in waves to her hips. Before leaving to find Rowan, she slurped down another blood bag and tried to ignore the sloshy feeling inside her from all the blood she consumed. Rhiannon scaled the stairs effortlessly and raised herself into the forest, and turned to close the door.

As she whirled around to begin her search for Rowan, she was caught by surprise when she ran right into a handsome stranger, dressed in a sharp, fitted suit.

Immediately Rhiannon considered breaking off one of her wooden heels but she sensed this man had no desire to harm her. He looked mesmerized, for some eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he took in Rhiannon's face."Isolde?"

**A/N Okay sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger! I'm also praying none of you hate me because of how Damon acted, but he is after all Damon. It would go against the grain for him to just accept the fact that someone loves him and go from there. Stay tuned! Another update tomorrow!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Something I have wanted to mention for a while. A friend of mine has written a book where the lead male character is based off of Ian Somerhalder (in real life.) Ian himself tweeted the link to it a few months back. The book is Vaalbara: Visions and Shadows. It is a FANTASTIC YA novel that for now is only available as an eBook but will be published into hard copy within the next few months! Check it out on Amazon, you will NOT regret it! First 2 chapters are free to read! **

**Without any further delay, here is Chapter 8. The first part is in Rhiannon's POV, the second half is in Damon's. Enjoy and as always please review =) That's what fuels my creativity! A big thank you to all my diligent reviewers, you know who you are!**

**CHAPTER 8**

**Chapter Song: Everything Changes by Staind**

_**Everything changes if I could,**_

_**Turn back the years if you could,**_

_**Learn to forgive me then I could, **_

_**Learn to feel**_

RHIANNON'S POV

"Isolde," the attractive man standing right in front of me said. The way his voice caressed over my mother's name sounded like a prayer.

My hand instinctively twitched, wanting to snap the wooden heel off of my boot, but I calmed when I looked into his dark eyes. His eyes held the promise that he meant me no harm.

_But he obviously doesn't know __**me**__, he thinks I am my mother. Who is this man and how did he know her? _Despite these questions, I thought it best to remain silent for now, and see what I could learn.

"You look the same that you did the last time I saw you in that meadow," he said, his voice full of amazement. He took a step closer to close the gap between us and brought his right hand up to gently touch the side of my face.

"My God, I have missed you. All these years I thought I had been too late to save you. But here you stand before me, as enchanting as ever. Rowan turned you, I presume? Is he still around, chasing after your affections?"

I didn't want to end the charade so soon and expose myself. "What are you doing here?" I asked him, struggling to keep my voice innocent.

I watched as his eye's glazed over with jealousy. "I traced that Salvatore here. The reckless one, Damon. Do you have dealings with him?"

Outside of Klaus, the only sure-fire way of putting me into a murderous rage was to make me feel like Damon was in danger. I had killed for him before, and I would gladly do it again to make sure he is safe. My eyes narrowed on the stranger. I tried to take a step back, but he caught me and pulled me close to kiss me.

_**Big mistake.**_

Drinking those blood bags had already granted me more speed and dexterity. This guy was obviously a vampire, a very old one at that if he knew my mother, but I alone harnessed the power of the ancient druids. My lethality, especially when coupled with human blood was unparalleled.I flipped horizontally and caught the base of his throat with my hand, forcing him down to the ground. Once he was on his back, I bent my right knee up into my chest and dug the heel of my boot into his sternum, all the while keeping my firm grasp around his throat.

"What do you want with Damon?" I hissed through my bared fangs. The stranger lay stunned beneath me, startled by my rage.

"Isolde-" he started.

"I _**am not **_Isolde!" I roared back viciously. "And God help me, if you do not tell me what you want with Damon Salvatore, your next breath will be your last!"

The man's dark eyes only widened. He made no attempt to answer me, whether out of shock or secrecy I was unsure. Nor did I care. I had given him ample warning and made my demand perfectly clear. I was not in the practice of making empty threats, so I tightened my grip around his neck until I began to feel the bones in his cervical spine begin to snap. I rotated my heel on his chest one last time for emphasis, about to plunge it into his heart when a familiar voice stopped me.

"Rhiannon!"

Without turning to face him, I knew it was Rowan. I felt the breeze from his speedy arrival brush against my back, and took a deep breath trying to regain some self control.

"Ahh! Ifreann na fola!" Rowan shouted, cursing in Irish, something he only resorted to when he was truly flustered.

I slowly pulled myself off of the stranger, my eyes still locked on his. I studied him carefully as he straightened himself, and brushed the leaves off of his expensive looking suit. Rage still emanated inside of me, and I watched for any sign that he might retaliate, knowing I would not hesitate to take his ass out if he did.

But the stranger ignored me, instead focusing his dark eyes on Rowan.

"Rowan," the man greeted, though his voice seemed devoid of any genuine interest.

"Elijah," Rowan countered apprehensively.

*****Shortly before all this*****

DAMON'S POV

I had to resort to turning off my phone. Ric was bombarding me with calls and text messages and I was not in the mood to deal with any of it right now.

The urge to stop running away from Rhiannon and go back to her grew stronger by the second. When I arrived home, I slammed the door shut behind me, wishing it could be barred somehow from the outside to prevent me from running back to her.

I had been trying to push her out of my mind since I left that damn underground lair, but I failed miserably. My deluded mind seemed to only want to perpetuate my agony, because it continued to sift through images of Rhiannon. I unwillingly watched the glimpses of the auburn haired beauty in my head.

And she morphs into a giant cat. What the hell is that? I knew I wasn't drunk enough to handle any of this.

_Stop thinking about her! She left you, remember? _I reminded myself.

In my fury, I lashed out at the closest thing in my reach, which happened to be a small table that supported several glass vases and knick knacks. Shards of glass spilled out across the floor. I didn't take inventory of the destroyed items. Probably just more shit Stefan had littered the house up with anyway. A few less things for me to dust.

I was halfway to the bourbon decanter that was beckoning me when there was a loud banging on the door. I froze. I knew if it was Rhiannon, I wouldn't be able to turn her away. I slowly retraced my steps back to the door, crunching glass under my shoes with each stride.

I opened the door to find Rowan glaring at me, just like he had when I met him.

_This guy's gotta work on a new look._

"Let me guess. Our favorite kitten isn't getting her way, so she sent the zookeeper over to fix it?"

Rowan did not bristle at my taunting. That bothered me a little. I love getting a rise out of people. To my surprise, his face actually softened a bit.

"Rhiannon does not know my whereabouts. I am here on my own accord."

I suddenly wondered if he was here to kill me. I mean, I knew he didn't like me. It wouldn't be such a stretch.

"Look, I already told her I want nothing to do with her," I said, trying to sound as glib as possible.

"You don't deserve her," he clipped.

"She _**left **_me!" I snarled back.

"She did it for your own bloody good!" he spat, effectively silencing me. Rowan took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing.

"You were a fool then, and you are a fool now, boy. Just for different reasons. Now you will listen to what I have to say to you," he commanded.

I would've liked nothing more than to slam the door in the asshole's face, but my intuition told me he was about to talk about Rhiannon, so I did something rare. I exercised some self control. When he was sure I was listening, he began.

"The proverbial shit is about to hit the proverbial fan. If Niklaus does not know that the doppelganger has fled town, he soon will. And after all of your foolish antics over the past months, he will undoubtedly mark you as the first target of his wrath."

"And, you care _**why**_?" I asked smugly.

Rowan's steely grey eyes narrowed into mine and he raised his eyebrows and took in the shattered glass around my feet.

"I would gladly leave you to your self-deprecating solitude, however Rhiannon is far too dear to me. She is beyond special. A Druid, the last of her kind. There is an ancient magic in her blood that you cannot fathom. Rhiannon must be the one to slay Niklaus, she is the only one who can. And I will not see her distracted by you of all people," he sneered.

It was the longest speech I had heard him give. I noticed how the Irish lilt in his voice spiked now that he was irritated.

"Well, Lucky Charms, what do you intend to do about that?" I baited him, not really knowing why. It was just in my nature.

"I intend to give you your memory back," he replied simply.

_What. The. Hell._

**A/N Hope you enjoyed it! If you'd like to help me by letting me bounce ideas off of you to hear your input, you can follow me on Twitter: robyn_michelle**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N I apologize for the longer than usual wait for an update. I have written and re-written this chapter so many times I lost count. Sorry that its shorter than my usual chapters. I hope you guys like it! And if you do please review =)**

**Chapter 9**

**Chapter Song: Green Eyes by Coldplay**

**3****rd**** POV**

Rowan stared deeply into Damon's bewildered eyes and concentrated.

"You are free to remember that of which I forced you to forget."

As soon as the last word was out of Rowan's mouth, the rush flooded Damon's mind. Damon slowly sank down to the floor of the threshold, as if his mind was weighted with lead. He was so immersed he did not even notice Rowan leaving.

Damon remembered _**everything.**_

Vivid, tangible memories of his time with Rhiannon. The first time he their eyes met at the train depot, and how his heart had been hers ever since. How he felt the first time he heard her honeyed voice speak his name. The night he asked Rowan for permission to date his "niece." The first time he kissed her in the moonlight on the steps of Leamineagh. The countless walks and carriage rides he had escorted her on. How breathtaking she had looked at the Founder's Ball, and how she only had eyes for him. The look on her face as he nervously slid the Claddagh ring on her finger. How their love-making had far surpassed any meaningless tryst he had had since. How he loved her and her alone, and he had promised he would for eternity. Her heartbreaking cries when he had been shot, and how she had carried him back to Rowan to save. The fear in her voice when she told him the truth about who she was. The agony in her gorgeous green eyes the night in his barn when she told him that he would never see her again, and the indescribably pain those words inflicted on his heart. How he had looked up to see Rowan, and then afterwards never recalled a thing. That is, until Rhiannon had come back into town.

Damon now understood what he hadn't before. Why Rhiannon had left back in 1860. She had come to Mystic Falls with the sole purpose of annihilating Klaus, hoping that Katherine's arrival would lure him there. But then she discovered that Katherine was no longer human, and was on the run from Klaus. Rhiannon knew that Katherine was desperate to obtain a bargaining chip to negotiate with Klaus in return for her freedom. Katherine was ruthless, and Rhiannon knew as long as she stayed in Mystic Falls, she was placing Damon at risk.

_She never wanted to leave me, _Damon realized. _She loved me enough to force herself to walk away to protect me._

Damon wondered briefly how the visions were taking place if Rowan had compelled him to forget. The only answer that seemed accurate was fairly simple. Their love had never really faded away. A heart cannot be compelled, only a mind. After he was compelled, without Rhiannon around to rouse his memory, there was no way he could remember her. Instead Damon felt hollow seemingly without reason. But since seeing Rhiannon at the Grill the night before, had set things in motion, causing the compulsion to slowly unravel and lose potency.

Damon knew he had missed Rhiannon all these years, even though to his mind, he had never known her. Briefly, he considered how very different the past century and a half would've been if only he had had her by his side.

Damon felt as though his existence had suddenly been given a purpose, and that purpose was to love Rhiannon. He no longer harbored the instinct to reject her love and run from it. The emptiness that had haunted him all these years was no more, and the fact that she reciprocated his love liberated him. Loving Rhiannon came as naturally to Damon as breathing. It was easy.

Damon was overcome with an irresistible pull to Rhiannon, to be near her, to hear her voice, to feel her touch. As he rose to his feet, he was suddenly racked with guilt over the hurtful things he said to her the last time he saw her.

_Rowan is right, _Damon thought. _I don't deserve her, but if she will still have my sorry ass, I will spend the rest of my days making it up to her._

Without squandering another second away from her, he ran as quickly as he could to find her.

**A/N Again, so its so short! Chapter 10 jumps back to the Rhiannon/Rowan/Elijah scene, and its sure to be longer. My muse left me for a few days, and everything I wrote seemed like a bunch of crap. I hope this didn't stink too bad. Its hard to write Damon without his snarky commentary. I don't plan on eliminating that element of his personality just because he is in love, after all he wouldn't be Damon if he lost that. Reviews are love, people =D**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Thankfully this chapter came to me much easier than the last one did. #GoMeForBeingProlific**

**I've never done a chapter dedication before, but LittleStrawberryLove completely overwhelmed me for her love/kindness/interest/enthusiasm for this story! I didn't plan on posting this until tomorrow, but I can't make you wait after giving me a review like that!**

**Chapter 10**

**Chapter Songs: **

**For You by Staind**

**Wonderwall by Oasis**

**3****rd**** POV**

Rhiannon was still seething, so full of rage that she could feel her fangs pressing sharply against her bottom lip. She watched impatiently while Rowan and the man called Elijah stared each other down.

"Will one of you _**say something**_?" she managed to spit out.

Elijah sighed after a moment. "I presume this is the child Isolde was carrying," he said, clearly speaking only to Rowan.

Rowan nodded reluctantly. There was another extended silence that Rhiannon found to be maddening. She knew she should probably be more concerned with Elijah's origins, and how he knew her mother and Rowan, but Rhiannon was overcome with the need to protect Damon. Everything else paled in comparison.

"What do you want with Damon?" she hissed as she took a threatening step closer to Elijah. Rhiannon ignored the wary glances Rowan was giving her.

Elijah met her eyes, but she saw no fear in them. "Your feelings are blinding your judgment. Just like your mother."

_I have had about enough of this asshole, _she thought.

At lightning speed, Rhiannon snapped the heel of her boot off and plunged it deeply into Elijah's chest, twisting it to rub against his heart. Elijah made a choking sound and was struggling to breathe, but he made no move to launch an attack against her.

Rowan stood silently. He disapproved of Rhiannon's impulsive actions, and he might've intervened, but after the crude comment he made about Isolde, Rowan thought that Elijah deserved what he got. He knew that Rhiannon sensed Elijah was a threat to Damon, and that already had her infuriated. So when Elijah made that quip about Isolde, he sent Rhiannon over the edge.

_Rhiannon may have no idea who __**he **__is, but Elijah certainly doesn't know what she's capable of, _Rowan thought to himself.

"Next time, I will not miss," Rhiannon sneered as she yanked the piece of wood from his chest, and took a few steps back. "Now let's try to again, what do you want with Damon?"

"Easy, kitten. Sheath those claws," came a voice coming up from behind her.

Rhiannon turned to look over her left shoulder to see Damon.

The sight of her in person was better than any vision or memory that coursed through Damon's mind. Her beauty was enough to make his breath catch in his throat. She was all vamped out, and he couldn't help but think how well it suited her. That dark red hair fell down her back in untamed waves, and there was a fire in her eyes he had not since in ages, not since that fateful carriage ride that had resulted in the death of six bandits and a gun shot wound of his own.

Damon finally managed to tear his gaze away from Rhiannon long enough to look meaningfully at Elijah, who looked to be recovering from a stake to the chest.

_She staked an Original? _Damon thought to himself. _Damn! She has got some spunk. I like it._

Without hesitating, Rhiannon blurred over to place herself in front of Damon. Then Damon understood the fire in her eyes.

_She is protecting me. She thinks Elijah wants to hurt me. That's the same look she had when she massacred those bandits that day._

Damon knew that she was more than capable in a fight, but it felt all wrong to him, allowing her to protect him. He wanted nothing more than to take Rhiannon in his arms and forget about everything else in this damned world.

_Soon, _he promised himself.

Damon placed his hands softly on Rhiannon's shoulders in an effort to calm her, and then stepped out from behind her and walked towards Elijah.

_What the hell is __**he **__doing here? Besides ruining my plans with Rhiannon, _he groaned internally.

"What do you want, Elijah?" Damon asked, his voice dripping with annoyance.

Elijah straightened himself, his breathing still labored as he recovered much slower than usual from his injury.

"I would rather discuss that in private," Elijah replied, throwing an accusing glance at Rhiannon, which caused her to shadow Damon's footsteps.

Damon smirked when he realized what she was doing. He wanted to turn around and tell her how sorry he was and kiss her until he knew he would never again see tears fall down her face again.

_Soon, _he promised himself again.

"Hmm. I don't think that's smart of you. Doesn't look like things worked out too well for you the last time you tried keeping something from her. And trust me, she's a wildcat…" Damon said as he stared at his wound and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "And besides, there's nothing I care to keep from her."

Elijah's dark eyes widened at Damon's admission.

_Could it be possible that even in an immortal state, Isolde's daughter inherited her druidical powers? _Elijah wondered. _No, such a thing would never be possible. _

"Very well. I came as a favor to you. My brother Niklaus is looking for Elena as we speak, and it is only a matter of time before he will realize that she has left town. When he comes to this realization, he will be outraged, and he will be vengeful. Niklaus will search for you and your brother, but since your brother has seemingly vanished along with the doppelganger, you will be the one Niklaus finds. His patience has been tried for too long. He will kill you, Damon."

Rhiannon's face paled and her body went rigid at the mention of Klaus and the reality that _**his brother **_was standing right in front of her.

She was not scared of Klaus by any means, but the thought of him coming anywhere near Damon nearly petrified her. Rhiannon somersaulted over Damon in a flash, and stared into Elijah's eyes.

"You should leave. **Now**," she growled menacingly. Elijah nodded at her and then walked over to Rowan.

"Do you mind if we talk for awhile?" Elijah asked him.

"I suppose not. Should I have any reason to object?" Rowan countered.

"Not at all. I give you my word."

VVvVvVv

As soon as Elijah and Rowan were out of sight, Rhiannon felt her tension begin to subside and felt her fangs retract back into her gums. She inhaled deeply and turned around slowly to see Damon staring back at her lovingly. The intensity of his electric blue eyes pierced her soul, and for a moment she was lost in them, unable to do anything but blink.

Rhiannon forced herself to remember that somewhere out there, Klaus was searching for Damon, so she broke his gaze to glance around warily. Finding no sign of danger, she motioned silently for Damon to follow her as she walked to the hidden trap door to Leamineagh a few yards away.

Damon fought the instinct to ravish her with kisses, knowing that things would go a lot more smoothly once Rhiannon thought they were both safe from Klaus, so he wordlessly obeyed her and followed her through the hidden trap door, down the rickety stairs, across the gigantic training room, and then finally into her bedroom.

Damon paused in the doorway as he watched Rhiannon continue over to the chaise lounge. She came to a stop and lifted her boot that was curiously missing its heel up as he watched her place the wooden stake back in its position.

_Well, aren't those nifty_, he thought, full of pride at how lethal she was.

Rhiannon lowered her foot off the furniture and turned slowly to look at Damon. She took a deep breath and hesitantly raised her eyes to meet his.

"Damon, I know you don't understand a lot about me or us, or what happened to us, but I am willing to explain it to you if you will give me a chance to," Rhiannon told him slowly.

_She is looking at me like she is terrified I'm gonna bolt outta here again_, Damon thought sadly as he looked into her green eyes.

In an instant, he closed the distance between the two of them. He took her face into his hands, and smiled softly.

"You do not need to explain anything," Damon told her. "I remember."

"You remember?" she asked, so surprise that her voice went up an octave.

"I remember…" he repeated as he leaned in to kiss her.

The kiss began tenderly, not like any of the others she had received from him recently. Damon's lips were soft and gentle. When she convinced herself that she wasn't dreaming, Rhiannon brought her hands up and tangled them in the midnight locks of his that she loved so much. His strong hands moved from her face to wrap around her back and he pressed her body tightly to his as he continued kissing her sweetly.

"God, I have missed you," he whispered softly in between kisses. "I have missed you for 150 years, I just didn't know it."

A single tear escaped Rhiannon's right eye.

"And I have missed you, too."

Then suddenly the force of his mouth strengthened against hers. If his kisses were soft and sweet before, they were blazing with fire now. Damon brought her legs up around his waist, using his vampire speed to carry her to her bed.

He laid Rhiannon down on her back and crawled on top of her, stopping to look into her emerald eyes that were raw with emotion before he continued.

"I love you, Rhiannon," he told her, amazed at the warmth the confession granted him.

"I love you Damon. I have always loved you," she said, smiling angelically up at him.

As he resumed kissing her, Damon thought one last fully conscious thought before he proceeded to make love to Rhiannon.

_At least for the rest of today, there will be no more thinking of Klaus._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N Just want to say a quick 'thank you' to all of you for your reviews/follows/favorites! Its always a great day for me when my inbox is inundated with alerts from FF =D**

**This chapter is only covering the conversation between Rowan & Elijah. Yeah, I know. I'm delaying the goodness that is Damon & Rhiannon. Don't worry, its coming. The Rowan/Elijah interaction is pretty crucial to the storyline. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

**Chapter Song: Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd**

**3****rd**** POV**

Rowan walked slowly to keep pace with Elijah, who still seemed to be in a great deal of pain from the wound Rhiannon had inflicted on him.

_She must have been closer to his heart than she thought, _Rowan thought, amused._ Elijah is an Original, and that boot heel is fashioned from ordinary wood. If he is having this much trouble recovering from the blow, what the Saoirse told me must be true. _

Saoirse was the high priestess of the druid circle that Isolde belonged to. Saoirse was also Isolde's aunt. She despised all vampires, but hated Klaus more than any other. The high priestess conjured a spell that had blessed Rhiannon (while still in the womb) with the power to slay Klaus by staking him with _**any **_type of wood. And by the looks of things, the spell also had a similar effect on Klaus' siblings, the other Originals.

"You appear to have kept up with the times well," Elijah began, gesturing towards Rowan's dark cropped hair and dark wash jeans and navy blue Henley.

Rowan looked down at his clothes and fought back a smile. He knew if it wasn't for Rhiannon he would still be running around in that ridiculous 15th century garb. If it was his mission in his undead life to train Rhiannon for her encounter with Klaus, her mission was to keep him current.

"As have you," Rowan replied, taking in Elijah's impeccable suit. "But I know that is not why you wish to speak with me." Rowan knew that he and Elijah had never been _friends_, and he knew that this impromptu conversation had more to do with Isolde and Rhiannon than anything else.

Elijah nodded his head, appreciating Rowan's directness. He still was not feeling well, so he stopped to lean against a tree. "The child bears a remarkable resemblance to her mother. I am sure you have noticed."

"_Rhiannon _looks exactly like Isolde. I would be a fool not to notice it," Rowan said, partly disgruntled at him for stating something that was beyond obvious.

"Are the two of you romantic?" Elijah asked leadingly.

Rowan's face warped into a look of disgust. "I suppose that is precisely what I would expect you to surmise. No, to answer your question. The love I had for Isolde went far behind her physical attributes, so I could never love Rhiannon the same way. She is my pupil, and has never been anything more."

Elijah eyed him suspiciously. "Surely you must be joking."

Rowan's first instinct was to be outraged at Elijah's comment and interest in this subject. But he reminded himself that he had had several hundred years to grow used to Rhiannon's likeness to Isolde, and that Elijah had only just discovered it. Rowan took a deep breath and then answered.

"Of course it can be. Sometimes, for a moment, you can actually believe you are looking at Isolde. But she is not her mother," Rowan began, then looked directly at Elijah. "And though you should have been able to determine this on your own, Rhiannon is quite taken with the Salvatore boy. She will not tolerate any harm to come to him."

Elijah sniffed. "I do not wish any him any harm, and I, myself, am not a danger to him. However, Niklaus is. And Damon is reckless and foolish beyond words. He has been completely careless in his actions."

"Why did you come to warn him about Niklaus?" Rowan asked.

Elijah deliberated for a moment, not sure if he wanted to clue Rowan in on his scheme or not, but ultimately decided that Rowan hated Niklaus as much as anyone.

"Damon is the only one I know that is brave enough, or foolhardy enough, to face off against Niklaus."

"Why would you wish to aid someone that opposes your brother?"

"Niklaus can now create more like himself. Hybrid monstrosities. Niklaus cannot be allowed to continue to sire more of them, and he will not willingly stop on his own," Elijah confided.

"How could Damon aid you? Klaus can only be killed with the wood of the ancient white oak, and it was destroyed centuries back. You know this," Rowan said, knowing that was not _**the only way **_to kill Klaus, but that he would keep to himself for now.

"I have learned of another tree. I just need more time to figure out more details, but I am certain Niklaus can be killed."

"So you mean to use the Salvatore boy as bait while you do your research?" Rowan asked. As unnerving as Damon could be, Rowan still knew that Rhiannon would be crushed with devastation if anything ever happened to him. It would be a devastation that she would carry with her for an eternity, never subsiding.

_Just like my grief_, Rowan thought sorrowfully. _I do not wish that on her._

Elijah righted himself against the tree, finally feeling normal again. He shrugged as he brushed an oak leaf off of his shoulder. "Damon's actions clearly show he has no more regard for his own life than I do for it. I pose no threat to him, personally, but he is merely a means to an end."

Rowan suddenly found his tolerant attitude with Elijah waning. He was remembering the last time Elijah had immersed himself in his research, he was too preoccupied to realize that Klaus had compelled a group of guards to round up the druids, and then slaughter them. Rowan had been waiting in the forest to meet with Isolde, but she never came.

"Is that the way of it, Elijah? You hide behind your books while someone else is sacrificed?" Rowan sneered venomously, his grey eyes clouded with resentment.

Elijah meet his gaze, and then his face fell. "You know that I had her best intentions at heart. I was trying to save her, to find something -anything- to convince Niklaus that the druids posed no threat to him. But he knew better. And he knew of my attachment to Isolde, so he composed the plan to have her along with the rest of the druids killed and intentionally left me unaware."

"Did you have her best intentions at heart when you murdered Alistair?" Rowan spat.

Elijah winced. He did not like to remember what he had done to Alistair, Rhiannon's father. The day Elijah had learned that Isolde was with child, he snapped into a murderous rampage, sought Alistair out and killed him. Elijah had acted out of sheer, impulsive jealousy. He knew his actions were wrong, he knew he had hurt Isolde deeply. And Rowan never let him forget it.

"As I recall, you were also upset to learn of the pregnancy," Elijah said quietly.

"Of course I was! I loved Isolde, but I loved her enough to know that I was not what was best for her. I wanted her to have a normal life, and if she chose Alistair, then so be it. I only ever wanted her to have happiness and safety. But you, Elijah, you stripped her of both!" Rowan hissed, taking a step closer toward him.

"Where were you while I was trying to find a shred of evidence to save her from Niklaus?" Elijah taunted.

(**flashback**)

Rowan thought back to the day that took place ages ago, but often seemed like yesterday. It was dusk and he was waiting for Isolde in their usual spot in the forest, north of the village. Dusk turned to nightfall, and Isolde never showed. Rowan traveled to the home that Isolde shared with her aunt Saoirse, and dropped on the threshold was a letter addressed to him. Rowan had read it over and over throughout the years that he now recalled it perfectly. It read:

_**Rowan,**_

_**I have foreseen a vision that Niklaus will soon be the end of the druid circle. I have only just had the vision, and it is too late to move myself and Isolde to safety.**_

_**I know that you believe me to be the enemy for forbidding Isolde to see you, but understand my reasoning. You are immortal and unnatural, which contradicts everything the Druids stand for. I know now that you are innately good. I believe that you love Isolde greatly, and if you truly do, then you will not hesitate to do as I ask.**_

_**Isolde's unborn child will inherit her power. Since the ancient white oak is no more, I have performed a spell granting the child the ability to slay Niklaus as any normal vampire would be slain, a wooden stake driven through the heart. This child is the last hope to save this world from the evil that Niklaus inflicts upon it. No matter what happens, no matter what you may have to do, the child must survive to fulfill its destiny. I am telling you this because Isolde and myself will not be here to raise the child.**_

_**You will find Isolde struggling to live still, but it will be too late. The rest of us will already be dead. You must give your blood to Isolde anyway so that it can save the child. The child will die too, but awaken as a vampire soon after. The child will be fully grown at age 20, afterwards it shall no longer age physically, and from that time forward the child will be a true immortal, not even a wooden stake through it's heart will kill it. But until the child reaches maturity, it will be vulnerable. Keep the child safe at all costs. **_

_**You, Rowan, must raise the child. If not for me, then as a tribute to your love for Isolde. **_

_**Saoirse**_

Rowan crumpled the letter into his pocket, faded into the shadows instantly, and ran to the village as fast as he could.

It was dark, the dim light of the crescent moon was the only source of light. It shone down on the tiny village, that was entirely empty of all its guards and residents. Rowan immediately flashed over to stand in front of Isolde, who was tied to a post and was rapidly bleeding out as a result of a slit throat. He materialized out of the shadows, bit into his wrist and urgently pressed it to her mouth. Isolde's green eyes held his for a moment, and she began to lap up his blood. Rowan stroked Isolde's long red hair, allowing himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

_I have saved her, _he thought._ If anything good ever comes from my existence, it will be that I have saved this girl._

Then it all happened very quickly.

Isolde's gaze, which was beginning to falter, suddenly sharpened. She managed to croak out the name 'Rhiannon' before her emerald eyes closed and her head fell forward. That beautiful heartbeat that Rowan had memorized so well thudded one last time and then there was silence. Tears began spilling down his face.

"No," he whispered in her ear. Rowan took her soft face in his hands and kissed her lightly. "Please do not leave me here without you. Come back, Isolde. I beg you," he cried to her.

He was broken hearted and hated himself for not arriving in time to save her. Rowan doubted that being staked could hurt him any worse than this horrid feeling. He sank down by Isolde's side, and remembered his true love's last word. Rhiannon. It had come out so liquid and garbled, a human might not have understood it. But Rowan had heard it, and he knew what it meant. The name Isolde desired to give her child that she believed was a girl.

Rowan thought of Saoirse's letter and her instructions and for a moment, he cursed the old sage for her hypocrisy. He was angry that Saoirse had hated him for something he could not help, that she never deemed him worthy of loving Isolde, but in desperation she concluded Rowan was good enough to raise the child.

_Me, the soulless, unnatural monster, _he thought.

Rowan looked a few yards away to where Saoirse's lifeless body was tied to another pole. He wished he could tell her exactly what he thought of her eleventh hour commendation, of her sudden clarity of thought, that she could be damned for all he cared.

Abruptly he remembered Isolde's unborn baby, and frantically sliced through Isolde's swollen abdomen. Rowan knew Isolde loved this child with every fiber of her being, and because she did, and because the child was the only remaining piece of Isolde he had left in this miserable world, he would love this child. He pulled the baby out of the lifeless mother.

"Rhiannon," Rowan breathed. The baby was as lifeless as her mother, just as Saoirse's letter had foretold. While he waited for the baby to awaken, he looked up at Isolde, and he felt his tears returning. She was every bit as beautiful in death as she had been in life.

"I promise you that I will make certain no harm comes to Rhiannon. She will be safe with me. Nothing will hurt her," Rowan swore to the dead girl.

A few moments later, the baby girl began to stir in his arms. He looked down to see the same green eyes, the same ones he thought he would never see again, staring back at him. Rowan was captivated. The baby's similarities to Isolde did not end there. Rhiannon had also inherited her mother's auburn hair, full lips, and porcelain complexion.

Rowan knew that Rhiannon was not, nor would she ever be her mother, but just the same she was now his responsibility, and his life of solitude was now over.

(**end of flashback**)

Elijah stared at Rowan, who's mind seemed to be far away even if his body was standing right in front of him.

"Rowan?" Elijah called to him, pulling him from his reverie.

Rowan shook his head and blinked his grey eyes rapidly.

"If that is all, I have business to attend to Elijah," Rowan said quickly, and stalked away.

Elijah stood there, utterly puzzled by what had just taken place.

**A/N Thanks for reading! I hope I didn't bore you or completely confuse any of you with the flashback stuff. As promised, we will be getting back to Damon and Rhiannon in the next chapter, I just really felt this was necessary, plot thickening information. I had originally planned on divulging this information by having Rhiannon find one of Rowan's old journals but I decided against it, ultimately thinking that was too Stefan-ish, lol. For all you Alaric fans, our favorite history teacher is getting ready to make another appearance! Stay tuned!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N As promised we are jumping back to Damon and Rhiannon with this chapter =D**

**Chapter 12**

**Chapter Song: Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol**

**3****rd**** POV**

**Rhiannon's Bed**

It was just after midnight, and Damon and Rhiannon were nestled peacefully in each other's arms. They had spent the last several hours worshipping and exploring one another, and were now contentedly resting.

Rhiannon's head was resting on Damon's bare chest, and her right knee was draped leisurely over his legs. She had allowed herself to forget about Klaus, even if only for that one night, so that she could enjoy being reunited with the one that she had loved and missed for 150 years.

Damon.

_**Her **_Damon.

_Nothing will ever tear us apart again, I will never allow it, _Rhiannon thought. The absolute certainty of the thought made her smile against Damon's skin.

Damon felt her smile and instinctively his right arm tightened around Rhiannon's back, and he bent down and kissed the top of her head lovingly. Laying with her like this felt heavenly. Damon knew that because he was a vampire, he would likely never see any real Heaven, but if he could spend forever with her, that was enough for him. Rhiannon had brought him such happiness, and the purity of his love for her sanctified his soul. Every time he looked into her emerald eyes, it was like some higher power granted him redemption for all his past sins. Damon now understood that the hallowed emptiness that he had been harboring all these years wasn't over missing Katherine, who he had believed to have been in the tomb, or over Elena, who he had not met yet. The emptiness was a result of a love so strong that not even compulsion could obliterate it. Absentmindedly, he pulled her even closer.

Rhiannon turned her face up to look at him through her eyelashes and smiled.

_God, he is so perfect. I could spend an eternity laying with him like this and never get used to it_, she thought.

"I'm staying right here," she promised him, batting her eyes flirtatiously.

"Oh, trust me, I **know**," Damon replied as a sexy grin spread across his face and his right arm coiled strongly around her, locking her position beside him.

Rhiannon laughed at him, and squeezed her grip around his torso. "I will never leave again," she whispered.

Damon smirked. "Well just in case you decide to try, I'm a hell of a lot more capable of stopping you than I was last time around. And FYI, I also take a daily dose of vervain, so you can just pass that juicy tidbit on to who it may concern," he stated, alluding to Rowan. He paused, and his brow furrowed a little. "Why is it that you can't be compelled?"

Rhiannon shot him a smug smile. She knew this had to have driven him crazy wondering why he had failed, especially after he had drank her blood that night and noticed she wasn't on vervain.

_I will tell him everything now, no more secrets_, Rhiannon thought.

Suddenly, the obnoxious sound of a trumpeting cell phone interrupted her. Damon sighed heavily, and dramatically flopped his head back on the pillow. He knew it was one of two people: Stefan or Ric. Damon presumed Stefan would still be too preoccupied with Elena and too chickenshit to make any type of traceable call, so that meant it was probably Alaric.

_Ugh! Ric has got to get a life! And get the hell outta mine! He needs to get laid and stop cockblocking me all the damn time!_

By the time Damon reluctantly peeled himself away from Rhiannon to retrieve his phone, he saw that he had seven missed calls, all from Alaric. He groaned and rolled his eyes as he powered off the device, ensuring it would be the cause of no more interruptions. Damon settled himself back in bed, this time lying on his stomach, resting his head on Rhiannon's hips. He began tracing patterns through the silk sheets onto her hipbone. "You were saying?" he prompted.

"There are a few abilities that I am gifted with, but there are also offsets to them. I am immune to compulsion, but I also cannot compel anyone myself. I can survive fairly easily without blood, but I'm a lot stronger when I drink it. I don't heal as fast as other vampires. I can walk in the sunlight naturally, without the aid of any bewitched talismans," she said as she eyed his ring. "I can also manipulate shadows, fade into them in a way."

Damon's eyes widened for a moment and then returned to normal. "Eh, you should see what I can do with the fog. And you aren't the only one who can shape shift," he teased as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"You can shape shift? Into what?"

Damon's ego deflated rapidly as he thought of his crow form, especially in comparison to what Rhiannon could shift into. "The 'what' is not important. How about a round of applause just because I have the ability?"

Rhiannon laughed at him outright, now more curious than ever. "Oh Damon, please?" she pleaded with her best pouty face.

_Oh, she does that __**so well, **_he thought to himself as he took in her expression. Even though he knew it was fake it still tugged at his heart. Damon sighed in defeat and shook his head.

"A crow," he mumbled, almost inaudibly.

Rhiannon stifled a laugh, not because she found the animal funny, but the fact that Damon seemed to be embarrassed amused her. She felt the corners of her mouth begin to tug upward, so she quickly clamped her hand over her mouth so Damon couldn't see her laughing. But it was no use. Her body began trembling with laughter, jostling his head which was still resting across her hips.

Damon quickly sat upright. "Are you laughing at me? I really, **really**, don't think that is such a good idea for you…" he warned as he began prowling over towards her predatorily.

"Oh, really?" Rhiannon asked, shifting herself a little further away from him.

"Truly," he smiled menacingly, continuing his advance.

It all happened very suddenly. Rhiannon closed her eyes long enough to concentrate, and then she felt the transformation glitter through her body. One moment Rhiannon's beautiful body was sitting in front of Damon, adorned with only a sheet, and the next he was staring at the large green eyes of a massive black panther. Before he had time to register another thought, the cat let out a threatening roar and pounced on him, forcing him back on the bed, pressing her large teeth around his throat.

Damon held up his hands in mock surrender. "Cute, if you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was ask," he quipped.

In less than the time it took him to blink, the panther changed back into Rhiannon, who was laughing at his suggestive innuendo, rather than smacking him or giving him the evil eye.

_Yeah, this one is definitely a keeper,_ Damon thought inwardly.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" she asked him.

Damon tilted his head to one side, squinting his ocean blue eyes slightly. "Hmm, not recently. And not nearly enough. Tell me again, Rhi."

She smiled brilliantly back at him when she recognized the nickname that he had called her when he had first met her.

"I love you, Damon," Rhiannon said in her honeyed voice, and kissed him softly on his lips.

"And I love you, always," Damon responded, his voice thick with emotion. He once again laid his head down in her lap, this time facing so he could stare up at her, and began twirling pieces of her long hair.

"Am I correct in guessing that Rowan paid you a visit?" Rhiannon asked as she traced the contour of his jaw line with her finger.

"Oh, yeah. Rowan. Not exactly congenial, is he?"

"Oh, Rowan is harmless, Damon. He is just protective of me, that's all."

Damon rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Well, any way you look at it, the guy hasn't changed his attitude toward me in the past one hundred or so years. Like he has a permanent stick up his ass or something."

Rhiannon stiffened for a moment, and her eyes misted. "Losing the only thing you've ever loved will do that to you, I suppose," she said as she smiled a humorless smile, knowing that Damon had no knowledge of why Rowan was the way he was. She moved her fingers from his jaw line to his dark black hair, and watched as his icy blue eyes went from sarcastic to concerned and knew she needed to explain.

"There are some things that you have never known about Rowan and I, not even when you knew me in 1860. Rowan was in love with my mother, Isolde, who was one of the original druids of Ireland. My aunt Saoirse forbade my mother to see Rowan, because the druids hated vampires for what they were, but my mother continued to see him anyway. I suppose she loved him too, in her own way, but she still married my father. Soon after she found out she was pregnant with me, my father was murdered. I don't know much more about that, but I do know that this all took place during the time that Klaus was playing 'English nobleman,' and occupied a castle in Ireland. The native Irish were treated awfully by the English in those days. Anyway, Klaus believed that the druids posed a threat to him, so he had them all rounded up and slaughtered. Even my mother, who was close to being ready to give birth to me. Somehow, Rowan found her in time to give her some of his blood. Not enough of it went into her system to save her, but it was enough to save me. Well, save me from dying a permanent death. Rowan tore me from her stomach, and he has cared for me ever since. I also know that I must look very much like my mother. Rowan never talks about her if he can help it, but I can tell by the way he looks at me sometimes. Not to mention, Elijah thought I was her."

Damon's eyes sharpened a little at the mention of the Original. "How would Elijah have known your mother?"

"I am not sure. All I know is that I need to find his brother. And soon," Rhiannon said seriously.

Before all the words were even out of her mouth, Damon was upright once again, shaking his head vehemently. "Yeah, about that. The answer is **no**," he ordered, purposely making his cerulean eyes larger to emphasize his point.

_Why must all the women in my life have a death wish?_ he lamented.

"Damon, relax. There is a reason that I am the only one of my kind. I am here to kill Klaus. Its my purpose."

"What the hell do you mean, 'your purpose'?" Damon could feel anger working its way throughout his body. It wasn't so much that he was angry at Rhiannon, but more at the possibility of losing her. "Rhi, did you forget about the fact that Klaus is an Original? As in, the _original_ Original? He can't be killed."

Rhiannon smiled at Damon's concern. "I know exactly who and what he is. And he can, and will be, killed," she assured him.

"Rhiannon," he began, using her full first name, hoping it would help him reason with her, "if you are referring to that damned white oak, you should know there aren't-"

"Shhh!" she interrupted him, placing her finger on his lips. "I know all about the tree, but no, that's not what I'm referring to. I can kill Klaus with _any_ type of wooden stake."

Damon sat there at the foot of Rhiannon's bed completely shocked. Part of him wanting to believe her, wanting to believe that killing him was a possibility. But the other part of him, did not want to believe her, as he wanted no part of allowing her anywhere near Klaus.

Rhiannon silently watched as his countenance shifted from incredulous, to hopeful, to stern.

"No," he spoke harshly. "Its too dangerous. There has to be another way."

Rhiannon was about to soothe Damon, but her own phone began buzzing on the table next to her bed. She knew it would be Rowan, as he was the only one who had the number.

"Hello, Rowan."

"_Rhiannon. I would have come in person to deliver my message, but alas, it sounded as though you were… preoccupied."_

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. _Great, just what I need. More awkwardness with Rowan_, she thought.

"What did you need to tell me? And what did you find out from Elijah?"

"_More of what we already know. That Klaus will be searching for Damon soon, if not already. You should consider convincing Damon to stay with you at Leamineagh. That house of his is not safe."_

Rhiannon's eyes narrowed as she realized what Rowan was telling her was true, and simultaneously realized that Damon could hear everything that Rowan was saying.

Damon smirked at her, and flashed her a look that clearly stated 'its not gonna happen.'

She shook her head at him, and resumed her conversation with Rowan.

"I'll do that. Did you find out anything else from Elijah?"

"_Nothing of any importance."_

Rhiannon knew Rowan well enough to know he was keeping something from her.

"How does he know my mother?"

"_Things that have transpired so long ago matter naught now. They are but trivialities."_

"Rowan!"

Rowan hesitated, then finally sighed in defeat. After all, he knew Rhiannon well enough to know she would not give up.

"_Elijah was also in love with your mother. He was trying to find a reason to sway Klaus' decision to killing all the druids, but Klaus acted alone, without involving Elijah."_

"So the both of you were in love with my mother?"

"_Bloody hell, Rhiannon! None of this matters at this point in time! None of it! I called to warn you about the boy's safety and that's precisely what I am doing. Now farewell."_

And with that, he disconnected the phone.

_Damn,_ Rhiannon thought.

She looked up to meet Damon's eyes, and still saw no sign that he would agree to stay with her.

"Please?" she asked, without even framing a question.

"Not a chance," he replied.

"Aww, Damon! Come on! Me, you, in my bed? Doesn't that sound like fun? I know I enjoyed myself thoroughly, especially when you did that thing with your-"

Damon silenced her with a kiss. Not a normal kiss but the kind that threatened to make her forget her name. She kissed him back earnestly, and when he finally pulled back to look at her she was breathless. He took her face into his hands, and gazed deeply into her eyes as if he was looking straight into her soul.

"I will stay here tonight, but I will go home tomorrow. I refuse to hide from Klaus, and I will not hide behind you so that he will be lured to you. I cannot lose you," he whispered to her fervently.

"But Damon, I cannot be killed! That's what I'm trying to tell you. Not by Klaus, not by anyone! It was part of the blessing that was given to me before I was born. I am a true **immortal**."

"Rhi, even if that were true, I can't stand the thought of you facing that bastard. Now, no more of this. I'm going home in the morning, and I can think of much better things to do with you than argue tonight," Damon said, wagging his eyebrows impishly.

Rhiannon was about to argue still, but decided that she could easily sleep out while Damon was asleep and retrieve some of his clothes and other necessities and return before he ever realized she was gone. So she melted into his embrace as he pushed her back down to the bed.

A couple hours later, Damon was fast asleep.

_Its time,_ Rhiannon told herself.

She rose out of bed, and soundlessly dressed in the closest thing to her, her black combat suit, and left Leamineagh, heading in the direction of the Boarding House.

Rhiannon entered through the front door, and quickly scaled the stairs to the bedroom that she knew was Damon's from the night she spied on him. She grabbed a satchel out of the closet and began stuffing anything she thought he might need into it. For a moment, she entertained the idea of bringing him no fresh clothes and forcing him to walk around Leamineagh naked all day.

_That would be nice,_ she smirked to herself.

Rhiannon made her way down the staircase, and just as she opened the door to leave, she felt a scorching pain searing through her heart.

Someone had shot her from behind.

She tried to hold herself up by bracing her body against the door frame, but it was no use. Rhiannon knew she would need human blood to heal quickly from this injury. She continued sinking to the floor.

She looked down to see a wooden dart sticking out of her heart, and then everything went black.

**A/N Sorry to leave you guys like this but I got carried away with this chapter too. I really hope you enjoyed the Damon and Rhiannon interaction. Its always fun to write. Chapter 13 will be up in the next couple days. As always, reviewing is love. I appreciate anything you send me, even if it's a critique =)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N You all make me so happy with all your sweetness! Thanks for taking such an interest in my story. All of you are amazing! Sorry about the cliffhanger. You will find out who shot Rhiannon in a few minutes, depending on how fast you read. And here we are at Chapter 13! Wow. I felt like doing different POV again, so I hope none of you mind. **

**Chapter 13**

**Chapter Song: All I Need by Mat Kearney**

_**I'm holding onto you, holding onto me,**_

_**Maybe its all gone black,**_

_**But you're all I see**_

**Damon's POV**

So, Rhiannon thinks she is some kind of magically invincible, Klaus-proof, immortal. That's nice. I see I'm gonna need to keep a close watch on her, and definitely not let on like I know where the bastard lives. Maybe I should consider staying here for awhile, to supervise her. It wouldn't hurt anything, and its not like I would be bored here with her. I can think of _tons_ of things to do with Rhiannon.

The thoughts plastered a smile across my face and I looked down at the gorgeous redhead sprawled out across my chest. I dipped my nose close to her head and inhaled deeply, taking in her jasmine scent and ignoring the hair that tickled my nose. I ran my hand up and down the length of Rhiannon's back as she slept soundly. I realized that I would be glad when she woke up, because even though we had spent the past several hours together, it had not made up for the lifetimes that we had lost. I had missed Rhiannon. Immensely.

My mind unwillingly shifted back to the only thing that still threatened our happiness. Klaus. Damn him. Why the hell couldn't he have just picked some other town, anywhere else, to haunt?

Because Klaus is a dick, that's why.

Briefly I considered pulling a Stefan, taking Rhi and getting the hell outta dodge, going a thousand miles in any random direction, not telling anyone where we were going. There would be no one to tell, really. Stefan didn't seem to give a shit. He had his head so far up Elena's ass, he didn't care about anyone else. And Elena had made her choice, and though she didn't choose me, it didn't matter anymore now that I had Rhiannon. Stefan and Elena were unreachable anyway. Part of my little brother's master plan. Caroline was wrapped up with Tyler, not that Vampire Barbie cared where I went anyway. And if Caroline didn't care, Bonnie sure as hell didn't care. The only person who would give a crap would be Ric.

Ah, Ric. He'd probably try to tag along. Ric isn't so bad, not if you can get over his ridiculous hair, his bad taste in clothes, and his occasional tendency to try to micromanage me. Seriously, he should know better by now. Ric could tag along, as long as he kept his mitts off of my girl, that is. I mean, I know I slept with his wife, but still…

I knew I was wasting time plotting through all of this, because Rhi would never agree to leaving Mystic Falls. I stifled a groan so I wouldn't wake her.

No she would not agree to leave. Of course, not. That would make things too easy. She would start up with that shit about how she was the one who had to kill Klaus, and she would not run away. It normally wasn't in me to run either, that's why I agreed to stay behind after Stefan and Elena left. I had nothing left to lose, except my miserable existence. But in the past day, that had all change. I had something, someone, that was beyond precious to me. I couldn't stand the thought of Klaus hurting her. I had to protect her, but she wanted to protect _me._

She had been told by someone (probably Rowan) that some witchy voodoo had made her invincible, a true immortal, and that it also granted her the ability to kill Klaus, aka The Asshole with any regular wooden stake.

Does this sound reliable to me? I'm gonna go with no. No it doesn't. At least not reliable enough for me to be comfortable with Rhi facing off with him, and then find out, 'Oops! Someone got their facts twisted.'

It was a shot in the dark, at best. Her life was too valuable to leave to chance.

I had been a little surprised earlier when I told her I would be going home in the morning that she did not argue her point. I remembered her well enough to know how stubborn Rhiannon was, but she had just dropped it.

I shoved all the thoughts away, knowing that all of it could wait till morning. I sighed contentedly, pulled her small body closer to mine and fell asleep within minutes.

VVvVv

All I could see was darkness. Nothing but an endless infinity of black. There were no shapes to see or sounds to be heard. Then suddenly the black faded into red, and a searing pain that stung so badly it woke me. I sat up quickly in bed, but realized that I was unharmed. I reached over to hold Rhiannon, but I was the only one in the bed.

It only took me a minute to understand what was going on, and it all made sense. Rhiannon had gone to my house. She had slipped out while I was sleeping, probably thinking she could grab some of my things and then be back before I ever noticed she had left. But she was wrong. I had woken up. I had noticed. And I was trying hard to convince myself that my painful dream had nothing to do with her, but I wasn't convincing enough.

Damn it! I knew she had dropped that subject too easily! I hopped out of bed, flashing around the room to retrieve the articles of my clothing that had been discarded in various places, pausing slightly to locate my boxers only to discover they were hanging from the chandelier. I knew I would have found that so much more entertaining had I not been so consumed with finding Rhiannon.

Like a bat out of hell I raced back home, and knew by the time I reached the tree line at the edge of the property that something was wrong.

The smell of Rhiannon's blood reached me, and though it smelled delicious, I felt nauseous thinking of why she would be bleeding. The nausea subsided and the instinct to kill took over. I listened intently to hear any sounds coming from inside, but there was only silence, accompanied with the smell of her blood that grew stronger the closer I came to the house. I found myself sanguinely praying (yes, I prayed) that the panther witches, or whatever the hell they were, knew what they were doing when they had supposedly blessed her with true immortality.

Then I saw her and knew that my worst nightmare had become a reality. My dead heart dropped to my knees when I found Rhiannon, crumpled in the doorway, covered with her own blood. In an instant, I rushed to her side, pulling her limp body into my arms. I could feel panic coursing through me, and tears stinging my eyes that refused to be held back. Her blood was _everywhere_. She had practically bled out in the threshold.

"Rhiannon!" I choked out, hating the weak way that my voice broke, not giving a damn at the same time. The lump lodged in my throat was becoming painful. The girl in my arms did not move. "Honey, open your eyes! Look at me!"

Still nothing. Not even a flinch. I pulled her into my lap, and brought my left hand to hold her angelic face. Her perfect lips that were normally such a lovely shade of pink were drained of all color, as pale as the rest of her body. I blinked away the tears that were blinding me, but they were immediately replaced with new ones.

"Rhi, please don't leave me… Don't…don't leave…" I sobbed into her scarlet hair. Rhiannon was still as lifeless as ever. Those damned idiots had no clue what they were doing when they thought they gave her invincibility. What they gave her in truth was a delusional complex that gave her a false confidence, making her think nothing could hurt her. For a moment, I wished every last one of their sorry asses was alive again just so I could swiftly send them back to their graves.

"Oh, God! Why have You done this to me? I _**loved **_her! I cannot lose her!"

I could almost physically feel my heart shattering into a million pieces. Rhiannon had come into my life, and she had been like a star among shadows. And now she was gone. This wonderful creature that had saved me from my own self was gone.

I was wrapping my arms around Rhiannon's body to pull her into my chest when I felt something sharp protruding from underneath her left shoulder. Upon examination, I noticed it was a wooden dart. Identical to the ones that Ric used in his godforsaken crossbow.

No!

If the smell of her blood had not been so overpowering, I would've picked up on Alaric's scent sooner. Cheap cologne and bourbon. I started to search the house for him, but reminded myself there wasn't a human heartbeat around for miles.

I thought about the ways I was gonna kill Ric as I gripped the wooden dart and pulled it out of Rhiannon's heart. As soon as the dart left her body, Rhiannon gasped. It was a raspy, strangling noise that caught in her throat.

She was not dead. Not really dead anyway, maybe she had been, but she was back. Oh, thank God. Relief washed through me, vanquishing my heartbreak.

I carried her in my arms, blurring upstairs to lay her on my bed. Rhiannon still seemed mostly unconscious. I knew that she had lost most, if not all of her blood. She needed to replenish it. Without wasting another second, I raced down to the cooler in the basement and retrieved an armful of blood bags. On my errand, I thought about what the hell could have come over Ric, and wondered if the dumbass was aware that he had just signed his own death warrant.

Why the hell would Ric try to kill Rhiannon? Didn't he know I loved her?

Then the realization hit. No, he didn't. Ric knew nothing over than the fact that Rhiannon was a mysterious new vampire that had just moved into town, one that had assaulted me with a toothpick at the Grill two nights ago. And all these damn Originals moving back had Ric a little trigger happy with his crossbow. I had ignored all of his calls and texts, and had even resorted to powering off my damn phone to keep his interruptions at bay. Christ!

When I returned to her, I tore into the first bag and slowly squeezed the liquid into her mouth. After the first bag was gone, Rhiannon's eyes fluttered. By the end of the second bag, her breathing became more even and her eyes opened and immediately found mine. At the end of the fourth bag, she still seemed weak, but mostly herself again.

I forgot about Alaric for a minute and silently thanked whatever higher power that had returned Rhiannon to me, slowly calming to the idea that she was alright. When awareness finally filled her bright green eyes, I breathed an enormous sigh of relief. When she looked up at me and smiled, I grinned so wide it hurt my face.

"How much trouble am I in?" her honeyed voice asked.

"Tons," I told her, but there was not a single trace of anger in my voice. I was too full of joy, relief, and gratitude to waste any time being mad at her.

She polished off the last blood bag and licked her lips clean. I tried to ignore the effect that action had on me, but it was difficult. Instead I averted my eyes to my sheets, which were now stained with blood. That's gonna be a bitch to get out. What the hell, I'll buy new ones.

Rhiannon slowly righted herself in my bed, wincing slightly as she scooted back against my headboard. Even though her frown only lasted a fraction of a second, it pained me to see it. She looked down at herself for the first time, and shook her head at the bloody mess.

"I was planning on being back in bed with you before you noticed I was gone," she began innocently.

"Well, that was your first mistake. How could you even **dream** of leaving me in bed alone? Obviously, Rhi, your priorities are all out of whack," I mocked her. I could afford to joke now.

She rolled her eyes at me playfully. "However can I make it up to you, my love?" she asked in a sugary voice.

"Oh I'm sure you will think of something," I promised her, wagging my eyebrows at her. In a more serious tone I added, "I don't ever want to go through that again. Not ever. Just remember that your magical resurrection hasn't let you off the hook with me." I knew that last part was a lie. I was putty in Rhi's hands as long as she wanted me. Normally, vulnerability like that would scare the hell outta me, but I wasn't scared with her. Her eyes softened, and she nodded, and I knew she well understood the tormented agony I had just experienced, recalling that night I had been shot by a highwayman. I had been blacked out for most of that, but I'm sure Rhiannon remembered every second. That's not the kind of fear you forget.

"Did you see who shot you?" It was a needless question of course. I knew good and damn well it was none other than Alaric, Vampire Hunter Extraordinaire.

She shook her head in response.

Before either of us could utter another word, I heard the sound of a familiar Suburban. It's brakes squeaked loudly as it was parked in the driveway.

It was Alaric.

I noticed Rhiannon's eyes widen at the sound, and saw her begin to get out of bed.

"Negative, Ghostwriter. Your ass is **staying** in bed this time," I ordered.

"But Damon-"

"No butts! Now get yours in bed and stay there! I meant it!"

"But it could be Klaus-"

"But its not! Now, for once, will you do something I ask of you? Please?" I pleaded.

I watched in amazement as Rhiannon settled herself back into my bed. "Bet you wish you could compel me," she muttered.

"Believe me, you have no idea," I told her humorlessly.

All this bickering over Rhiannon staying put had unfortunately given Alaric enough time to come inside and scale the stairs. I listened and realized his heavy stride was about to turn the corner to enter my bedroom.

I threw myself onto the bed in front of Rhiannon, just in case Ric was still packing.

"What are you, crazy?" she asked me incredulously, desperately trying to shift out from behind me. Jesus! I just tell her to try not to get herself killed again, and two seconds later, she's at it again! I locked her wrists in place, forcing her to stay behind me.

Ric's expression was priceless as he rounded the corner. I saw relief in his eyes as he saw me, and then his gaze fixated on Rhiannon, obviously wondering how the hell she wasn't a pile of ash.

"Hello, Ric. Meet Rhiannon," I said dryly.

**A/N Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 13! PLEASE, please let me know what you liked or disliked. Your reviews really do fuel my creativity!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N I have gotten such wonderful feedback from you all about this story, and Rhiannon. Thank you! I'm thrilled you guys like her, I'm pretty fond of her myself =D**

**Back to 3****rd**** POV for this Chapter. As always, thank you & enjoy!**

_Previously:_

_Ric's expression was priceless as he rounded the corner. I saw relief in his eyes as he saw me, and then his gaze fixated on Rhiannon, obviously wondering how the hell she wasn't a pile of ash._

"_Hello, Ric. Meet Rhiannon," I said dryly._

**Chapter 14**

**Chapter Songs: **

**Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter**

**Lips Like Morphine by Kill Hannah**

**3****rd**** POV**

Alaric was stunned, not sure what surprised him more, that Damon was alive, alive as he could be, anyway, or that the redheaded vamp had risen from the dead.

_Damn, its not even 9am, and I need a drink,_ Ric thought, shaking his head.

Over the past 24 hours or so, Damon had ignored most all of his calls and text messages. The last he had known, _Rhiannon_, as Damon had called her, had stabbed his friend with a toothpick and threatened him. And when the idiot had failed to return any of his calls, what conclusion was Ric supposed to draw?

Finally, Ric's irritation with Damon had grown into genuine worry, and he had loaded up his crossbow and headed over to the boarding house to investigate. There was no sign of his friend, but there was broken glass scattered across the front doorway, as well as on the floor in Damon's room. A troubling scenario, since Ric knew Damon was OCD as hell about any type of mess. He decided to check the basement for any clues, but there was nothing there.

Alaric had been climbing the stairs of the basement, back up to the main floor, when he heard feather light footsteps on the main staircase. His intuition had told him the footsteps didn't belong to Damon, and he slowly turned the corner to see _her._ Ric didn't hesitate to raise his already loaded crossbow and send a wooden dart straight into her heart.

But here they both were, looking very cozy together. Damon's eyes were shooting daggers at Alaric. He had placed himself in front of the girl in a defensive position. Damon had obviously formed an attachment to her, and a big one judging from the looks of it. And all in one day's time?

_What the hell is going on? _Ric wondered.

"Hello, Ric. Meet Rhiannon," Damon said glibly.

Ric ignored the girl for a moment. "Damon, what the fuck? You don't answer any of my calls, you disappear? You know Klaus is after your ass, right?"

"I know this might come as a shock to you, Ric, but you and I, we're not dating. I'm not into you like that," Damon quipped.

"You're an ass!" Ric shouted at him. You could always count on Damon to find humor in humorless situations. "What's all this about?" He asked, nodding to Rhiannon, who was wide eyed and had an uncomfortable expression, pinned between Damon's back and the headboard.

Damon reached his hand back to Rhiannon and squeezed hers.

_Since when is this guy a hand-holder? Shit is really getting weird around here, _Ric thought.

"It's a long story, but as for your Buffy stunt earlier, consider this your 'Get Outta Jail' free card. No more skewering Rhiannon, got it?" Damon said. He was making jokes, but Ric knew he was dead serious.

Suddenly the pieces came together for Rhiannon, who had been a little confused for the past few minutes. She had recognized Ric from the bar, but she had no idea what he was doing here now or more importantly why Damon was trying to defend her from Ric.

"You mean, **you** are the one who shot me?" she asked him, wondering why a man that was Damon's friend would try to kill her.

Damon winced a little when he noticed the incredulous high note in Rhi's voice. He thought for a moment that maybe he should be protecting Ric from Rhiannon, but shrugged the thought away.

_He's brought all this on himself. Plus he has an eternity ring. He'd come back,_ Damon thought, and as much as he liked Alaric, he thought it would be funny as hell to watch Rhiannon take him out.

Ric hesitated and looked sheepishly at Damon. Damon sighed, knowing Alaric had probably thought he was avenging his death when he had shot Rhiannon.

Damon was about to begin to explain this to Rhiannon when she suddenly seemed to fly across the room, stopping in front of Alaric.

"Rhi, calm down," Damon said, noticing how the shoe seemed to be on the other foot, as it was usually someone else telling him those same words.

Rhiannon paid no attention to Damon. Her focus was on Alaric. She took a step towards him, and in response he took a step back against the wall.

"Answer my damn question," she said coolly.

"Yes. I shot you," Ric admitted.

"Why?" Rhiannon demanded.

"I thought you had killed Damon. Or kidnapped him or something. He and I, we're… friends."

_Well that was awkward_, Damon thought.

Rhiannon's tense posture relaxed as Alaric's words sank in.

_He thought he was protecting Damon_, she thought. Rhiannon knew that she was the last person on Earth that Damon needed protection from, but understanding Ric's motives redeemed him in her eyes. She could never hate nor harm someone that wanted to keep the man she loved safe.

"I forgive you. But you should know that you don't need to ever worry about me hurting Damon. I love him," Rhiannon said, and turned her head back to look over at Damon, who was smiling ridiculously.

"You _**love**_ Damon?" Ric asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. He knew Damon had had more than his share of one-nighters, but this? Girls usually never stuck around too long after that. But here was this incredibly attractive girl who was very obviously in love with him, not just a lusty infatuation.

_Way to go, Damon!_ Ric thought, silently congratulating his friend.

Damon noticed Alaric looking Rhiannon over. He didn't mind at first, but when Ric's eyes lingered too long, Damon cleared his throat loudly.

"You heard her, Ric. She's mine, so paws off. Got it?"

Ric nodded. "Relax, man. I'm just window shopping. Not leaving any fingerprints on the glass."

"Ric, just go home. You've already managed to stir up enough shit today and its not even noon," Damon told him, mentally adding, _Yes, please go to work, or home, or whatever the hell it is that you do all day. You're being a cockblock. Again. Leave so I can get some time alone with Rhiannon_.

"Hold on, I'm still confused."

"Oh, for the love of _**God**__!" _Damon groaned with exasperation. "Look, I'll go slow for you. This is Rhiannon. She and I go way, way back. Rhi is… one of a kind. Let's just leave it at that for now. Maybe the less you know, the better."

"Damon, if you think that kind of crap ass explanation for her not dying after I shot her through the heart with a wooden dart is gonna fly with me-"

"You bet your ass its gonna fly. It better. Now, Ric, run along. I'm sure there's a classroom full of children somewhere that you are depriving of your infinite wisdom, and I won't have myself to blame for that," Damon said with his trademark sarcasm.

Alaric's eyes flickered between Rhiannon and Damon. He decided that he would go after all. Clearly, Damon was in no danger with her, and Rhiannon really seemed to genuinely care about him in return.

_That's nice to see for a change. Hope things stay this way, even after Stefan and Elena come back_, Ric thought sanguinely. He hated to see Damon when he was in his self-destructive state, and this was indeed a welcome change.

And after giving Rhiannon another once-over, Ric decided that he would want to be alone with her too, were he in Damon's shoes. Not to mention the girl smelled like heaven. _Wonder what kind of perfume that is?_

"Fine. But will you at least answer your damn phone when I call you?" Ric negotiated.

"Yes, I'll answer. Happy now?"

Ric smiled and shook his head as he turned to leave. Damon was an ass, but he was thankful that he seemed happy. If anybody deserved some happiness in his life, it was Damon.

As soon as Ric left the room, Damon began kissing Rhiannon passionately, thankful to finally be alone with her. He pressed her closer, holding her body tighter, and she let out a whimper. Damon stopped kissing her abruptly.

"What's wrong? Are you hurting still?" he asked her urgently, looking at the wound on her chest.

"No, it's not that. I'm fine now, but that doesn't mean that you are safe here. Klaus knows that you live here, and he can come here anytime he likes. Damon, you're coming back to Leamineagh with me," Rhiannon instructed.

"Rhi, I already told you when you asked me that last night-"

"Yeah? Well guess what? I'm not asking now. I'm telling. Now get your shit together and let's go," she told him as sweetly as she could. Rhiannon knew Damon didn't want to stay at Leamineagh, but that was the only thing that made sense at this point and she didn't want to waste time arguing with him now. Especially not here.

Damon raised his eyebrows, clearly impressed at the authority she was asserting. He studied her for a moment, trying to decide what the best option was. He didn't really want to go stay at Leamineagh, but truth be told, that had more to do with his pride than anything else. And even if he stayed at the Boarding House, Damon knew that would probably mean Rhi would be hanging around, which could potentially expose her to Klaus, were he so inclined to stop in. Damon knew Rhiannon had no problem facing off with Klaus, but **he** sure as hell had a problem with it.

_Maybe she is the one who's supposed to kill Klaus, but I don't like it. There's got to be another way_, he thought.

Damon sighed heavily and grabbed some of his necessities, neatly stuffing them into a duffel bag. Rhiannon tried to hide her smile, but failed.

"You know, smug doesn't look good on you," Damon teased her. He knew it was a lie, **anything** looked good on her. Especially that tight black leather jumpsuit she was wearing, despite the fact that it was saturated with her own blood.

Rhiannon rolled her eyes at him playfully. She let her eyes roam over his room while he finished packing, taking in all the broken glass on the floor and the blood soaked sheets on his bed. "Your room looks like a crime scene. I'm shocked, Damon. You used to pride yourself on your cleanliness," she mocked him.

Damon smirked, threw the packed duffel bag over his shoulder, and walked over to Rhiannon. "I know you wouldn't be trying to give me any incentive to stay, would you?"

"Oh, trust me, my dear. I can give you plenty of incentives _**not**_ to stay," Rhi promised him seductively as she strolled ahead of him through the doorway, swaying her hips a bit more than was necessary.

"Teasing isn't nice."

"Who's teasing?" she quipped, smirking back at him.

They walked out the front door together, and Damon stepped over the blood that was puddled on the threshold.

_That's gonna be a bitch to clean up_, he thought.

VVvVv

Rhiannon wasted no time making good on her promise to Damon as soon as they made it back to her room at Leamineagh. She had jumped on him, quite literally. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her hands were knotted in his luxurious dark hair as she kissed him forcefully.

_If I get this kind of reception every time I come over, consider me a __**frequent**__ visitor_, Damon thought.

Pleased beyond words with her reaction, he pushed Rhiannon up against the wall. His sinewy hands were roaming all over her, not able to decide which part of her he wanted to be touching the most. Rhiannon moaned loudly when his mouth found her neck and her hands eagerly removed his shirt. Damon, who was happy they had reached the point in their foreplay that made removing clothing necessary, began unlacing the back of her suit at lightning speed.

"I suppose I should announce my presence before one or both of you are rendered _completely_ indecent," came a voice across the room.

Damon spun around to face it, placing the palms of his hands on the wall behind him to hold Rhiannon where she was. They had been so immersed in each other, they had never noticed Rowan sitting on the chaise lounge.

"Rowan!" Rhiannon hissed, frantically trying to cover herself.

"Rhiannon, you are letting yourself become… distracted. You should be training, not… fornicating," Rowan chided as he stood to walk closer to the two of them.

Damon closed the gap between himself and Rowan. "Who the hell do you think you are, telling her its time to train? I think you need to back off.," Damon said, not caring to hide the threatening tone in his voice.

"That is interesting, because considering the bloodied state you have returned her in, it appears Rhiannon could most assuredly benefit from training," Rowan began. "And you would do well to remember who you are speaking to, boy. I may have given you your memory back, but I am no fonder of you now than I was in 1860. I only returned it to you in hopes that Rhiannon would not have her head clouded with heartbreak over someone who no longer remembered her. But now you seem to be distracting her more than ever."

"Rowan, that's enough!" Rhiannon scolded.

"In what manner were you harmed?" Rowan asked her, but his stormy eyes were still focused harshly on Damon, who was scowling right back at him.

"There was a misunderstanding," she said simply.

Rowan's eyes shifted to examine all the dried blood Rhiannon was still covered in. "Of what type?"

Rhiannon sighed, knowing he was not going to let this go. "Damon's friend thought that I had killed Damon, so he shot me. With a wooden dart."

Rowan's eyes hardened and moved back to Damon. "I thought at the very least I could entrust you to protect her, but I see my trust was misplaced," he growled.

Damon knew that Rowan was overreacting, but still flinched at his cutting words.

"Says the one who is pushing her towards Klaus?" Damon stated glibly.

"It is her destiny!" Rowan snapped.

"Okay, Oh wise Jedi master," Damon quipped back.

"What is this Jedi you speak of?" Rowan asked, completely puzzled.

As irritated as Rhiannon was with the scene playing out in front of her, she almost laughed at Rowan's clueless response.

She was aggravated at Damon for still doubting her ability to handle Klaus, and aggravated at Rowan for his attitude towards Damon in general.

"Enough! Rowan, I will meet you in the training room in ten minutes," Rhiannon dismissed.

Rowan and Damon continued their stare contest until finally, Rowan left the room. Rhiannon closed her eyes and shook her head in annoyance before exhaling deeply. _Forget Klaus. These two are killing me_, she thought with annoyance.

She shrugged back into her stained combat suit and walked in front of the mirror and began braiding her long red hair back.

Damon was deep in thought as he watched her. He was lost in thought, watching her as she rapidly twisted her hair into one long plait that fell to her hip.

"Would you like to help me train?" Rhiannon asked him, pulling him from his thoughts.

"What all does that entail exactly?" he wondered skeptically.

Rhiannon shrugged. "Its combat training, Damon. You attack me, look for my weaknesses, tactically speaking."

The thought of trying to fight her, even without really hurting her, made Damon want to wretch. It would sicken him to analyze her from that type of standpoint. He knew he was also going to find it unnerving watching Rowan fight her, and possibly hurt her, but by the same token, Damon had no desire to leave her side today. And he knew the sooner this damned training session ended, he would have her all to himself yet again, and they could pick up where they left off last night. Interruption free.

"I think I will just sit on the sidelines," Damon told her.

**A/N Review please! =D Thanks!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N Sorry about Chapter 14, FF was freaking out on me yesterday. I posted my chapter around 5am, and knew something was wrong when by noon, I had no new messages/reviews/alerts (cause normally my phone is blowing up with email notifications, which I love!) Then someone let me know that Ch14 was up for a little while, but then vanished (Thanks, Vicki) so I had to resubmit it. Sorry if you guys got duplicate notifications, blame FF not me=D**

**Thanks for reading, Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15**

**Chapter Song: Angel With A Shotgun by The Cab**

**3****rd**** POV**

Damon was tense, completely on edge as he watched Rhiannon and Rowan battling in the training room.

He knew it was only for practice, and that it was beneficial for Rhiannon, but it was still hard as hell for him to watch and restrain himself from jumping in to intervene.

Both Rowan and Rhiannon moved so swiftly that only superhuman eyes could see the detail in their moves, and even Damon had to pay close attention.

Although he had to admit, watching Rhiannon in action was beyond impressive. She was so graceful, her movements so fluid, if it wasn't so her knocking Rowan around and the occasional snap of his bones, no one would even know that she was fighting. She danced away from him, avoiding nearly all of his offensive advances. No matter how fast Rowan was, Rhi was faster, always a step ahead of him, anticipating his next action. They had been steadily warring with one another for more than an hour and Rowan had yet to land a blow on her.

Over the past 24 hours, Rhiannon had consumed much more human blood than she normally did in her regular diet. As a result, her strength and agility were off the charts.

_I guess five pints of soccer mom will do that for you_, Damon mused.

Rowan on the other hand, was being beaten to a pulp. Damon could tell that Rhiannon preferred to stay on the defensive with him, evading as many of Rowan's attacks as she could without actually striking back at him to defend herself.

But sometimes Rowan would come close to taking hold of her, and Rhi didn't hesitate to do what was necessary to free herself.

After Rhiannon landed a roundhouse kick square on his jaw, Rowan cracked his neck uncomfortably and straightened himself. Damon fought the urge to break out in a round of applause.

_That's my girl_, he thought.

"Alright. You are ready," Rowan told her.

Rhiannon blinked, still locked in her defensive position.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you have reached your potential. There is nothing more that I can teach you," Rowan told her.

"So its time then?" Rhiannon asked him, still not quite believing his words.

Rowan nodded. "Yes, I will see about trying to find Elijah. I am certain he knows where Klaus is hiding."

_And this is where I keep it to myself that I know where Klaus lives_, Damon told himself.

"Hold on a minute! Just like that, she's ready to go fight Klaus, just because she can kick your ass?" Damon asked, nearly outraged with doubt.

"Are you doubting my abilities? If you think there is something more that you can teach Rhiannon, be my guest. I could use some entertainment while my jawbone reattaches itself to my skull." Rowan smirked.

Damon ignored his jab. "Aren't you at least a little concerned about sending her off to Klaus? I mean, have you at least tried to explore other options?"

Rowan stared at Damon for a long while wordlessly. "Rhiannon, will you please excuse us for a moment. I would like to have a word with Damon," he said to her, without taking his eyes off of Damon.

Rhiannon's eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them, trying to measure Rowan's mood decide if it was safe for Damon for her to leave.

"I will not harm him," Rowan said, sensing her concern. If his words had given her any doubt, Rhiannon saw in the depths of his grey eyes he was telling her the truth. She nodded slowly, smiled at Damon, and then walked to her room.

"You doubt her. You should not doubt her," Rowan told Damon, as soon as he heard Rhiannon's shower turn on.

Damon folded his brawny arms across his chest. "Its not that I doubt her, I just can't stand the thought of her fighting Klaus. I still think there has to be another way," he confessed.

Rowan considered this for a moment and smiled to himself. He was picturing how he, himself, would have felt had it been Isolde who had to fight Klaus.

_I suppose I would have the same mentality_, he thought.

"There is no other way. Rhiannon was blessed while she was still in her mother's womb. She alone can slay Klaus, she was granted true immortality for this sole reason. You must see reason, Damon. This is what she is destined to do."

Damon's icy blue eyes narrowed into a cold stare. "I will not allow it! She means too much to me, I cannot risk it."

Rowan sighed heavily. "Do you truly believe I would knowingly send Rhiannon to her death? I have only wanted to protect her all these years, to care for her and train her to ultimately do what she has been destined to do. I love her too, Damon."

"_**No, I love her**_. I really am in love with her! I love Rhiannon for who she is, not because she looks like someone I let die 500 years ago!" Damon shouted, his voice seething with bitterness. He thought Rowan might hit him for being so offensive, but instead the man just looked broken. Damon watched as Rowan's face fell and his grey eyes grew very distant.

Damon suddenly regretted his words. "Look, I shouldn't have said that."

A few moments passed before either of them said anything else. Finally it was Rowan who broke the silence. He sighed heavily and ran his left hand through his messy dark brown hair before he spoke.

"Isolde was… I have never loved anyone the way I loved her. It has been my greatest regret that I was unable to save her life, I truly hate myself for failing her. But I managed to save Rhiannon. She is this wondrous extension of Isolde, so special that I could never be persuaded to believe anyone is worthy of her. So my quarreling with you is mostly based on my own high standards that I have set for her," Rowan confided. "_Mostly_. You do have a most abrasive manner at times."

Damon ignored that last bit and instead absorbed everything Rowan had just told him. He knew Rowan well enough to know that this would be the closest thing to a blessing he would ever receive from the man. Damon understood things now in a different light, he had never cared or stopped to consider why Rowan acted the way that he did. He saw now that Rowan treasured Rhiannon above anything else he had, because she was the only link he had left to Isolde.

"I want to talk to Elijah before Rhiannon faces Klaus. There was something he was supposed to be looking into…" Damon said.

"Another white oak? There has been a rumor of that for many years Damon, but we are no closer to finding it now than we were then. As you like it, though. Meet with Elijah. Only do not discuss Rhiannon with him. Elijah seems to be an ally, but I fear that in the end, his loyalty may lie with Klaus."

Damon nodded in response, and turned to walk in the direction of Rhiannon's room. Despite the enlightening conversation he had just had with Rowan, nothing could keep Damon from resisting the lure of joining Rhiannon in the shower.

"Oh, and one more thing," Rowan called after him. "I would not tell Rhiannon about your planned rendezvous with Elijah. She will likely not be in favor of it."

Damon half smiled at him, and nodded once more in agreement before stepping into Rhiannon's room. He began stripping all of his clothes off, letting them fall piece by piece as he made his way into the steam-clouded bathroom.

Damon silently stepped into the large open shower, and stopped to stare at Rhiannon.

_God, she is beautiful_, he thought.

She was standing underneath the faucet, water cascading all over her beautiful naked body. Her eyes were closed, and she was rinsing all the soap out of her long hair. Though he would've thought it to be impossible for her sweet jasmine smell to be any stronger than it normally was, it was almost as if the hot water intensified it.

Rhiannon surprised him by speaking to him without opening her eyes. "Are you just gonna stand there like a pervert or are you gonna come join me?''

"How did you know I was standing here?" he asked. Damon knew her senses were hyper-accurate but he had been extra quiet.

Rhiannon opened her eyes and smiled widely at him as she raked over him appreciatively.

"Now who's the pervert?" he teased. "Are you going to answer me?''

"Hmm?" she asked, blinking rapidly and forcing herself to look at his eyes.

Damon smiled smugly as he walked over to stand in front of her, and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I asked you how you knew I was standing here."

"Oh. I smelled you," Rhiannon told him. "You have this distinctive smell. Its spicy and chocolaty. Usually has a hint of bourbon to it, but I don't smell that now."

He grinned at her, thinking his scent was nothing compared to hers. "So what do you think about picking up where we left off earlier?" Damon asked, kissing her forehead and working his way down to her ears and neck.

Rhiannon ran her hands up his back around his shoulders, feeling the rivulets of water streaming down the contours of his muscles. She tilted her head up to give him better access to her neck.

"I think that's a very good idea," she whispered in a husky voice.

**A/N I know there was more Damon/Rowan than Damon/Rhiannon in this chapter but I did this for 2 reasons. The first because it is essential to the plot, the second being I felt I wasn't doing/had not done a good enough job in shaping Rowan's character. I got several PM's about Rowan, a lot of them conveying contempt over how he treats Damon, some even making him out to be the villain, which is exactly what Rowan ISN'T. I wanted to show you guys that he really isn't bad, he has just experienced a great loss that has left him a little emotionally crippled.**

**All that aside, there will be a lot more Damon/Rhiannon in Ch16! Good times, no interruptions =D**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Chapter Song: Connect The Dots by Spill Canvas**

_Don't you just love the desire taking hold of you,_

_I can tell you do,_

_I know all your favorite spots,_

_And tonight we will connect the dots_

**Rhiannon's POV**

Damon's mouth was on my neck, his lips and tongue caressing my wet skin in harmony. I doubt he had any clue how crazy he made me.

I tightened my grip around his shoulders, pulling him closer. My eyelids began to get heavy with lust, and when he caught my left earlobe between his teeth, I whimpered.

It was a small sound, but it didn't go unnoticed.

Damon leaned back slightly to look into my eyes and smiled the sexiest smile I had ever seen. Had I been wearing any panties, they would've hit the floor.

"I love you, Rhi," he whispered in his velvety voice. Damon's beautiful blue eyes were lit up with adoration. "I love you so much."

"Show me." The words flowed out of my mouth before my mind registered I was even speaking. His eyebrows shot up, obviously a little shocked at my request. Were I not so turned on and intoxicated by him, the look on his face would have been hilarious.

"What did you just say?" he asked, grinning devilishly.

"I said, _show me_," I purred seductively, tracing my fingers along his collarbone.

Damon's mouth crushed down on mine eagerly, and I groaned into his open mouth when he anchored my legs tightly around his waist.

And then he proceeded to show me just how much he loved me.

**A few hours and positions later…**

The two of us had moved from the shower, to the bathroom counter, to the door (_yes, the door_ ) and had finally made it to my bed. I had been kissing him deeply while he was thrusting into me, when I my tongue raked over his protruded fangs. I forced my eyes open to look at him, and saw his eyes were dark with lust. Damon was all vamped out, and I felt my own fangs distend in response. I pulled his head down to my neck. He didn't need any more of an invitation than that. I felt his teeth puncture my skin and moaned loudly when I felt him begin sucking. I was surprised when I felt him stop abruptly.

"Bite me," Damon whispered roughly. Without knowing why, I hesitated for a moment. "You know you want to," he cajoled huskily right before he returned his mouth to my neck.

I sank my fangs into his carotid and felt him shudder against me. His blood rushed into my mouth, his delicious flavor so overwhelming I struggled hard to pace myself. The arousing combination of tasting him, feeling him taking blood from me, and the enjoyment we were reciprocating was enough to make me come undone. Again.

And then it happened.

"_Oh, Rhiannon. Don't stop," _I heard Damon's voice say.

I obeyed happily. Damon's flavor was heavenly, he tasted just like he smelled - delicious. I flipped him over on his back at lightning speed, and continued tasting him.

I didn't want to drain him, so after a few more minutes, I ran my tongue over his wound to close it. I crushed my mouth onto his, a little more aggressive than normal, letting the tastes of our bloods mix. I was nibbling on his lower lip, when I heard his voice again.

"_God, I love it when you get a little rough."_

"I know you do," I whispered against his lips.

"What?" he asked.

"I said, I know you do," I replied, slightly impatient. I was eager to resume kissing him and I knew damn well he had heard me. All vampires had excellent hearing.

"Rhiannon, I didn't say anything," Damon said, a truly puzzled look growing on his face.

"Yes, you did. You said you like it when I get a little rough." Why was I having to explain this to him?

A look of total bewilderment overcame him. It could have been my imagination, but I could've sworn his already light complexion paled a couple shades. His cornflower colored eyes narrowed onto mine.

"Rhi, I didn't say that."

"Damon, really? I heard you. You damn well did say-" He silenced me, putting his two fingers over my mouth.

"I did not say that. I _**thought **_it."

VvVvVvVv

Hours later, Damon was draped over me in bed, with his head nestled comfortably on my chest. My limbs still felt numb and heavy from all of my intense satisfactions.

We had come to the conclusion that, due to our blood sharing, Damon and I could now project thoughts to one another. It only seemed to work when we were emotional, because it didn't seem to work for normal thoughts.

I looked down at Damon, who was grinning up at me impishly, looking like a perfect cross between a devil and an angel. I knew he could be both at times, and I loved him for exactly who he was. I smiled back at him in response, and tangled my fingers in his disheveled onyx-colored hair.

"That was…" I began, searching for the right word, but none strong enough came to mind.

"Incredible? Mind-blowing? Amazing?" he offered, clearly full of himself.

I grinned widely, shaking my head in amusement at his conceit. "Yes. All three. And more." It wasn't a lie. Damon was good. Earth-shatteringly good. And I didn't care that he knew it.

"You aren't so bad yourself," he smirked.

"I'd say so. Considering you liked it so much, your thoughts told me instead of your words," I reminded him with a wink.

Damon stretched out languorously over me, and crawled up to drag his tongue over the bite marks he left behind on the side of my neck that were nearly healed.

"It is pretty badass, isn't it?" he asked as he laid himself back down on top of me, resting his head in the crook of my neck.

"Yes, it is."

A few minutes passed and somehow I sensed Damon was growing uneasy. I am not sure how, I couldn't see his face from this angle, and he was laying completely still. I could feel a rush of his thoughts, but they all seemed so obscure. Except for one underlying note that uniformed them all. Jealousy.

"What is wrong? Tell me," I said to him.

"I'm not trying to project this," he said reluctantly, still not meeting my eyes.

"Well you're projecting it all the same. So tell me."

He sighed heavily and raised his head from its resting position on my neck and looked down into my eyes. His thoughts may have been full of jealousy, but his pretty blue eyes only looked sad.

"Damon?" I prodded him impatiently. I had no idea what had brought all this on so suddenly, I only knew I wanted to end it.

"A lot of time has passed since you and I were together before," he said blankly. I waited for him to continue, but he said no more.

"Yes? And everything is going to be fine now," I tried to assure him.

"That's not what I meant."

"Well what do you mean?"

He exhaled sharply, as if I was missing something completely obvious. "Its, its probably not… any of my business. But were you… with anyone else?"

Then it made since. Damon was jealous at the thought of me being with anyone else, even if he wasn't around. And along with the jealousy, the thought of me with someone else also made him extremely sad. I brought my hands up to hold both sides of his face.

"Listen to me, there has never been anyone but you. Not before you, and most definitely not after," I confessed to him.

I watched as the sadness faded from his eyes, only to be replaced with surprise. "Not even before? So until you met me in 1860 you were a virgin?"

I smiled at his disbelief, and shrugged. "I had other things to worry about."

"And since then, you haven't …"

I shook my head fiercely. "Damon, I was so broken hearted when I had to leave you, I couldn't have been with anyone else, even if I wanted to. I loved you. I've always loved you."

He pulled himself off of me, and moved himself to sit at the foot of my bed. I was by his side in an instant, and was about to ask him what was troubling him, when a wave of his emotions hit me like a freight train.

Guilt. A _ton _of guilt.

I knew it had to be from a mile long list of women he had to have slept with over the last century. I had suspected this before his guilt had even confirmed it to me. It came as no surprise. Sex practically exuded from the man's pores. There were no pictures to go along with his thoughts, for that I was silently thankful.

I was not at all angry with him for it. If I was angry at all, I would have to be mad at myself for leaving him, and with no memory of me to be had. After all it had been like I had never existed in his mind. No, I wasn't angry at Damon. But I was fooling myself if the thought of him with another woman, much less hundreds of them, didn't cut me like a blade.

I closed my eyes tightly and tried to ignore the thoughts that were tormenting me, but they came anyhow, like a steady stream of reoccurring nightmares. I was desperately trying to get a grip on my emotions, but when I felt Damon's arms wrap around me, I knew I was failing.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry," he said in a choked voice against my hair.

"Damon, you have nothing to be sorry for. You had no idea of what had happened between the two of us. You can't be faulted for what you did," I said, trying to sound strong, but the tears flowing down my cheeks contradicted my voice.

Damon pulled away from me slightly, just far enough so that he could look at my face, and winced when he realized I was crying. He wiped my tears away with his fingers, kissed me sweetly, and pulled me into his lap.

"I'm still sorry. If I had any idea you were out there, I never would've… done the things that I did."

With a little effort I managed a small smile. "It's okay now. Things are different now."

"Yes, they most definitely are," he agreed, stroking my hair adoringly.

I fell asleep in Damon's strong arms, but when I awoke, I was alone in my cold bed.

I kept my eyes closed, blindly reaching for him on the other side of the bed, though I should've known he wasn't there. Damon never kept any more distance between the two of us than was absolutely necessary. I sat upright in bed, my eyes flashing about the empty room. I blurred to the bathroom, but that was empty too. I searched my brain for any trace of his thoughts or emotions but there was nothing.

Panic and frustration coursed through me.

_Where is he?_

**A/N I really hope you guys enjoyed this! I know I got a little hot and heavier than I normally do. Blame them, not me =D **

**And yes, another cliffhanger! Sorry! I promise I will update soon!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N So Damon is still MIA this chapter. I promise - he is alive. (Do you REALLY think I'd kill him?) He is just preoccupied. We will catch up to him, but for now, we're gonna focus on some other characters, cause some serious stuff is about to go down. I stayed in Rhiannon's POV for this one, too.**

***Oh, and we are just gonna pretend that Ric still has his apartment, and that he hasn't taken up residence at Elena's***

**Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 17**

**Chapter Song: Shake It Out by Florence + The Machine**

**Rhiannon's POV**

_I have a really bad feeling about this._

I tried to keep the panic at bay, breathing deeply and forcing myself into a calmer state. I smelled the air and found no strange scent that did not belong, only my own mingled with Damon's. I knew that wherever he had gone, he had left on his own free will.

My intuition still plagued me, ever insisting that something about this was not quite right.

I cursed silently when I realized that my combat suit was still laying on my bathroom floor, drenched in my own blood. I dressed myself in a mad fury, snatching up the closest pair of skinny jeans out of my fully furnished closet (thanks, Rowan,) and a random, long-sleeved black shirt.

As I shrugged the shirt on, I noticed it was actually a rather pretty blouse, with two large cutouts that exposed the skin of my shoulders down to the small of my back, like angel wings. Something I normally would've saved to wear for a date night with Damon, but no time now to change.

Oh, well. It is what it is.

I laced up my black boots and tossed a glance at my reflection in the mirror. My long red hair was straight and smooth, a shock since I had spent the last several hours rolling around in bed. The only thing off at all about my appearance was that my lips were a little swollen, no doubt from kissing Damon so vigorously.

I grabbed a few extra wooden stakes out of my nightstand drawer, raised the back of my shirt, and shoved them into the waistline of my jeans. I knew I was wearing my wooden stake-heeled boots, but with the way my intuition was screaming at me, I couldn't be too careful.

_Oh, Damon. Where the hell are you?_

I thought about the possibilities of where he had gone.

The boarding house. That seemed the most likely place, but why would he leave in the middle of the night? That didn't really make sense.

Maybe Damon had gone to see his friend Alaric, wherever it was that he lived. Although that, too, seemed very unlikely at this hour.

What other place was there? The Grill? No, Damon would not have left me to go there surely.

I raced out of my room, over to the cooler under the stairs where the blood bags were stored. I was still a little souped-up from the blood Damon had given me earlier in the day to recuperate from the injury Alaric had inflicted, but I wasn't going to take any chances. If Damon was in some kind of trouble, I would take every precaution I could. Getting wasted on human blood was a small price to pay to know for certain I would be able to defend him.

I chugged seven blood bags, burped loudly, and forced another one down, just for the hell of it. I was completely gorged with the liquid, to the point I was slightly uncomfortable. I knew that within minutes, the blood would take effect and it would all be worth it. I scaled the stairs and lifted myself agilely through the opening and into the forest. I silently wished I had my car with me, but I knew it wasn't exactly like I had a driveway here to park it here. Besides it was still parked outside the Grill. _Damn!_

I ran fast, pushing every stride to go faster than the last. I arrived at the Boarding House, noticed that Damon's Camaro was still parked in the driveway, and I quietly tiptoed through the doorway. The threshold was still covered in blood but I remembered it had been mine, not Damon's. I stealthily blurred through each room of the house at warp speed, but I found no trace of Damon.

This is really not good.

The prickly feeling on the back of my neck threatened to work its way down my spine. I forced myself to breathe meditatively and did my best to ignore it. I had to be able to think clearly and focus if I was going to find Damon.

_Think, Rhiannon._

Alaric! Damon may be with Alaric. Or Alaric might at least know where Damon is. I retrieved a phone book from one of the cabinets in the corridor, and flipped through the pages roughly, coming to stop at the first of the 'S' pages.

I scanned my eyes down the pages.

_**A. Saltzman**_

There was a telephone number accompanied by an address. I memorized both and let the phone book fall where it may as I flashed out the front door, so fast that I didn't hear the loud thump it made till I was almost to the main street.

I looked down at my phone before I began dialing Alaric's number.

**2:17AM. **

Damn. I knew it was late to be calling, but I didn't have a plethora of options at this point. As I listened to the monotonous ringing, I was silently thankful the darkness was obscuring me as I ran. My speed would've raised a few eyebrows, to say the least.

The phone rang and rang. No answer. I frowned, but my fingers swiftly began plugging in Alaric's address into my phone's GPS navigation app.

I spied my car right where I left it, parked directly underneath a streetlight adjacent from the Mystic Grill. I climbed into my 1964 ½ Ford Mustang, cranked it and revved the engine before peeling out onto the street. The robotic tone of the computerized 'direction-giver' was maddening, so I cranked my stereo up, and memorized the eleven turns I would have to make to get to Alaric's before shutting the damned thing off.

My tires came to a screeching halt outside Alaric's apartment building. Normally I would've glanced around for any potential witnesses before I used the full extent of my speed, but tonight I was throwing caution to the wind.

I rushed the building at the speed of lightning, inwardly delighted at the effects of all the blood I had forced on myself, and stopped outside the door with the number '9.'

I could hear the distinct rhythm of a man snoring, a human man, as I could hear his heartbeat.

I inhaled deeply, and then knocked on the door. The knocking only seemed to slightly disrupt the snoring. I heard the sound of the bed creak as if someone had changed position in it, and then the snoring began once more.

_Ugh! I don't have time for this!_

I breathed in another sharp breathe, and resumed knocking. My temper and impatience clearly got the better of me, because I felt the metal door give way to my knocking, leaving a few small dents in the shapes of my knuckles.

There was no more snoring coming from inside of the apartment. I heard another creak of the bed, an opening and closing of a drawer (probably getting his crossbow), and then heavy footsteps coming closer and closer to the door where I was standing.

"Who's there?" a man's voice grumbled, thick with sleep. I heard a subsequent clicking noise, and guessed that Alaric had just loaded his crossbow.

"Alaric, its me, Rhiannon. I need to talk to you."

I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head as I impatiently waited for him to remember my name and open the door. I bit my lip and fought the urge to snipe at him, _'Oh, you remember! The one you impaled with a wooden dart today?'_

No, that would not help my cause. Sarcasm was Damon's forte, not mine. Plus I liked Alaric, despite the fight he tried to kill me earlier. I knew he had only done it because he had been worried about Damon, and with Klaus running rampant, he had good reason to be vigilant. I was just hoping that Alaric had nothing more against me, since he obviously knew by now that I was most definitely not Damon's enemy.

I heard the sliding of a chain lock and the turning of three deadbolts before he finally cracked the door.

Alaric's eyes narrowed down at me, but not in an unkind way, more surprised than anything else.

What do you want?" he yawned.

"Is Damon here?"

"No, I haven't seen him. I thought he was with you. Or under you," he teased.

I did not have time for his common jokes.

"He was with me, but he left in the middle of the night. He isn't at home, and if he's not here with you, then I know something's wrong."

I could see by the look on Alaric's face that he heard the raw panic in my voice. Concern and worry took over his tired face and his eyes suddenly tightened with awareness.

"Gimme a second," he said before turning around, leaving his door wide open.

It was a little awkward for a moment, standing there alone in the hall, unable to follow him inside. Somewhere along the way back to his bedroom, Alaric must have realized it.

"Please come inside my house, Rhiannon," Alaric shouted with mock formality, without even turning around to face me.

I exhaled slowly as I crossed the barrier of the doorway and smiled. Alaric, a vampire hunter, obviously trusted me enough to invite me into his home. This was big. I knew I liked this guy.

I walked over to the brick wall in the living room and leaned against it. I could feel another wave of panic threatening to surge through me, and I knew I need to focus and breathe through it.

After a couple deep breaths, a thought occurred to me.

_I need to call Rowan and tell him Damon is missing._

I reluctantly dug my phone out of my pocket. Rowan would not have nice things to say. He would probably make a few snide comments about how I should be more worried about finding Klaus than babysitting Damon Salvatore, but nonetheless, something was telling me Rowan should be made aware of the situation.

"_Rhiannon?" _he answered.

Of course it was me. I was quite certain I was the only person who ever called Rowan. I had been the reason he had a damn cell phone to start with.

"Rowan, listen to me. Damon is missing. I think he's in trouble," I said urgently, not caring enough to try to mask the panic in my voice.

I heard a sharp intake of breath from the other line.

"_I think I know where he is."_

What had Rowan been keeping from me? I felt the anger rising inside of me, but I swallowed it down, knowing right now all that mattered was making sure Damon was safe. I would cooperate now, and I could be angry later. Before I could manage to get another sentence out, Rowan spoke.

"_You need to get to Klaus' manor as quickly as you can, Rhiannon." _

"I don't know where that is! Don't tell me you and Damon have known all this time and haven't told me!"

There was a brief silence on the line that confirmed his guilt.

"_Where are you?"_

"I'm at Alaric's apartment. He is a friend of Damon's."

"_He will know how to find Klaus's mansion. I'm leaving now, I will meet you there."_

"But-"

"_This is the culmination of all you have trained for. If Klaus does indeed have Damon, then he is in grave danger. Hurry, Rhiannon."_

And just like that the line was disconnected. On cue, Alaric returned, fully dressed and wielding several curious looking devices. Seeing my interest, he explained.

"Oh, these are some weapons I designed myself."

I nodded and raised my eyebrows to show I was impressed with his inventions.

"Alaric, I think Damon is at Klaus's. Do you know how to get there?"

He nodded. "Figures. He has been planning on meeting up with Elijah for awhile, something about another ancient white oak that can kill Klaus. Another damn dead end, if you ask me. Damon probably went there to find Elijah, let's hope he hasn't found Klaus instead."

"We need to go. Now," I said urgently.

"Hey hold on! You're gonna need some things, especially going where we're going," Alaric warned me, as he began sheathing his weapons in miscellaneous places.

I raised my shirt to expose my midriff and proudly displayed the row of sharp wooden stakes that lined the waistband of my jeans.

"Nice!" he complimented, clearly impressed at my

preparation.

"I'm driving!" I shouted to him as I blurred downstairs.

Once outside, Alaric paused when he saw my car. At first I thought he was going to give me static about not wanting me to drive. If that's the case, too damn bad. I had far better reflexes than him any day, not counting the blood high I was currently on.

"Get in, Alaric."

To my amazement, he shook his head, but obeyed. He got inside quickly, eyeing me as I cranked the car.

"Is this a '65?" he asked.

"Actually, it's a '64 ½. Not too common."

Alaric snorted with amusement. "Just like its driver!"

"What?" I asked him. How did Alaric know what I was?

He shrugged. "Damon called me a few hours ago, gave me the heads up on you. You're one of a kind druid vampire, who can shift into a panther. That might have shocked me before, but I've seen some pretty weird shit around here lately. And you can supposedly take out Klaus for once and for all. Damon told me under no uncertain terms was I to let you anywhere near Klaus, if the opportunity ever presented itself."

"Then why are you?"

Alaric turned to meet my gaze. "Damon isn't exactly pragmatic when he is in love. He is blind to reason. The way I see it, I shot you through the heart. You should be dead, but here you are. There's obviously something to that," he explained. "By the way, my bad about shooting you and all."

I smiled at him. "Its okay. No hard feelings."

About half way to our destination, something that Alaric had said sparked my interest.

"Wait, you said Damon called you a couple hours ago? Isn't that a little late for a normal phone call? Where was he?"

"Are you kidding me? I would be more alarmed if the guy called me at 9am. I've been around Damon long enough to know he doesn't keep a normal schedule. As for where he was, I just assumed he was with you," Alaric said casually.

I floored the gas pedal. I could not stand the thought of Klaus harming Damon, but if he had, my retribution would come swiftly. I would send that bastard back to hell, where he belonged.

"Turn here. Its not much farther. It's the last house on this road," Alaric told me.

I was speeding down the road, when my brain suddenly felt like it was bursting over and over again. But it wasn't my own pain. It was Damon's.

I gasped at the intensity of it, squinting my eyes closed. Alaric took hold of the wheel.

"Rhiannon, what is it?"

"Damon's in trouble! I have to get there now!"

The pain still had not subsided, but I forced myself to speed down the road. I did not pull into the long drive way that led up to the large house. I threw my car in park, and nearly took my door off as I opened it. I leaned down to speak to Alaric one last time before I left.

"I think you should probably stay here, Alaric. You're human, it will not be safe for you in there."

"You're joking right?" he snorted as he got out of the car. "I know you don't know me that well, but Damon's my friend. I'm not running away or hiding. Plus its not in my nature to miss out on a good shitstorm."

His devotion to Damon warmed me. If not for the impending crisis, I would've hugged Alaric. Instead, I smiled and nodded at him.

"Okay, at least give me a head start," I said. "Oh, and Alaric? Don't be surprised by what I'm about to do."

I concentrated as hard as I could, given the fact that my head still felt like it was imploding. I felt the shimmer radiate throughout me and soon I was running on four legs instead of two.

Somewhere behind me, I heard Alaric swearing in astonishment as he saw the large black panther racing towards the mansion.

**A/N I hope you enjoyed it! I think I'll be writing the next chapter in Damon's POV. Reviews are love!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N whew! Some intense stuff is happening. I had to write and rewrite this Chapter, and I am hoping I finally got it right. I was blocked for the first few paragraphs, and then this turned out to be my longest chapter. Go figure. It would have been shorter, but there was nothing I wanted to edit out, and nowhere that I thought was a good place to separate without giving you guys one heck of a cliffhanger. (You're welcome=)**

**I will apologize for any errors, as its 5:30AM and I'm just getting home from work =/**

**Chapter 18**

**Chapter Songs: **

**Had Enough by Breaking Benjamin**

**Run by Snow Patrol *(see very end after reading chapter)**

Rhiannon was halfway to the entrance to Klaus's mansion when the excruciating pain inside her head abruptly vanished. She did not know whether to be relieved that Damon was no longer hurting or worry about its sudden halt, but she huffed and pushed her paws harder against the ground.

She was suddenly overcome with a rush of love into her mind, so intense she fought hard to keep her stride from faltering. It was Damon. He was projecting to her, sending his love to her, but something was all wrong about it. As beautiful as it was, there was a bittersweet note of finality to it that brought tears to her eyes.

_Something is wrong. Deathly wrong_, Rhiannon thought.

_I love you Damon! Just hang on, I'm coming!_ she projected with all of her mental strength.

She bounded up to the front door, and dived through the side window pane, shattering glass everywhere. Under normal circumstances, Rhiannon would have preferred to go about this in a more stealthy manner, but that would mean sacrificing time she did not have, not if she was going to save Damon.

She heard an immediate silence fall upon the next room, and felt another projection from Damon. Though Rhiannon was relieved to feel anything from him at all, the sadness and despair from his projection was staggering.

In two leaps, Rhiannon bounded over to the main room, and let out a loud roar at what she saw.

***Shortly before all this…***

Damon knew something was off as soon as he set foot inside the elaborate manor. He was supposed to be meeting Elijah about some new information concerning the whereabouts of this legendary white oak, if the damned thing even existed at all.

Damon knew it was a shot in the dark, but it was worth all the hassle and more to him if he could prevent Rhiannon from facing off with Klaus.

_Maybe she really is a true immortal_, he thought. _Okay, okay, after everything I've seen, she probably is. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't want her anywhere near that bastard._

Elijah had left him a message earlier stating that Klaus had left unexpectedly on the hunt for Stefan and Elena after receiving some anonymous tip. Normally Damon might have selflessly thrown himself in the middle of that mess, in hopes of distracting Klaus from hunting down his brother and the doppelganger, but he had much more pressing matters to attend to. After all, Stefan and Elena had not given anyone besides their own hides a single thought since skipping town last week, and Damon decided he would think about his and his own for a change.

_You reap what you sow_, he thought.

But as Damon stepped inside the doorway, even the air seemed almost sinister.

"Well, well, well! What have we here?" an unfortunately all-too-familiar British accent said.

Damon couldn't keep the grimace off of his face at the recognition of it. Briefly he thought about turning and leaving, but really what was the point? This showdown was bound to happen sooner or later.

"Come now, Damon. Don't be shy! Join us!" Klaus's voice beckoned him from the next room.

Damon took a deep breath and reluctantly strolled into the room. He was surprised, but then again, not too surprised, to see Elijah, daggered lifelessly at Klaus's feet. There was another man that Damon did not recognize, standing off in the corner.

_Probably another one of his damn mutant minions that he has created. Add another one to the list. Way to bring the neighborhood down, Klaus_, Damon thought.

"Don't look so glum, mate!" Klaus began. "You see, Elijah doesn't understand the importance of being truthful. Not keeping secrets from me is quite crucial. I thought he had learned his lesson from before, but then again, he as always been a slow learner. But cheer up! You don't have to meet the same fate Elijah has."

Damon could help but notice the particularly sinister gleam in Klaus's eyes tonight.

_This crazy bastard looks off. Even for him_, Damon thought to himself.

"What do you want?" Damon asked rudely through gritted teeth. The whole 'kill-em-with-kindness' act was something that Damon never really mastered. But then again, he rarely wanted to try it.

Klaus took a few steps toward Damon, making it seem like no more than a casual stroll.

"It's really quite simple. You just tell me where Stefan and my pretty little doppelganger have gone on holiday to, and you can be on your merry way."

The truth was Damon had no clue where Stefan and Elena were, they had kept that piece of information to themselves, just to prevent it from being compelled or tortured out of anyone. Damon knew that Klaus would not believe any of this. He also knew that Klaus was aware of his daily intake of vervain to ward off any compulsion, which meant that he was about to be in a lot of pain, very, very soon.

"Tick, tock, tick, tock," Klaus prodded.

Damon sighed heavily. "I don't have the slightest idea where they are. All I know is that they were running away from this psycho-lunatic with this awful, outdated British accent," he said, shaking his head dramatically. "Other than that, your guess is as good as mine."

Damon knew it was risky baiting Klaus, but like most other times, he didn't really care. Whatever Klaus was going to do to retaliate, he was bound to do any way, so why prolong any of it? He doubted very seriously Klaus would kill him, after all he had had plenty of opportunities to do so already and hadn't. Let him shove some splinters under his fingernails and call it a night. With any luck, Damon could grab a couple bags of soccer mom from his stash at the boarding house and be back in bed with Rhiannon before dawn. The sudden thought of her almost made him smile, despite his current company. Klaus took another step, closing the gap between them, and narrowed his dark eyes at him.

"The problem there is that I don't believe you. Even if you do not know where Stefan is, you would never willingly let Elena leave your sight without knowing her whereabouts."

Damon suppressed the urge to laugh in face.

_What a difference a few days can make!_ Damon thought.

Klaus's assumption would have normally been true. However, when Stefan had called him, he and Elena had already boarded a plane. They had given him no time to wreck their plans, no time to change their minds. Damon had spent the next four days in the bottle, alternating his time between the boarding house and the Grill, with Alaric faithfully on hand to supervise. Until the night that the stunning redhead had walked (back) into his life and breathed new life into him, changing everything for the better.

"Believe it," Damon sniped. "I don't know where they are, I told you. Say, have you tried Chicago? I hear Stefan has had some _**killer**_ times there!"

Klaus smirked back at him humorlessly, and crossed his arms. He seemed to be staring at him, trying to gauge if he was actually lying or speaking the truth.

"Well, seeing as how Elijah is clearly… _**unavailable**_, I had best be on my merry little way and leave you to your tea time, or shameless torture of others," Damon said as he turned to leave. He knew Klaus would stop him, but whatever the hell he was up to, Damon just wanted to speed it up.

As expected, Klaus blurred in front of him, blocking his way.

"I don't think so, mate. You aren't going anywhere until I have some answers."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Look I've already told you, I don't know where Stefan and Elena are. What else do you wanna know?"

"Why is it that no matter the situation, you must always act as if you are in charge? As if you have the upper hand?" Klaus questioned, seeming genuinely curious.

"I guess I'm just a boss like that," Damon smirked with a wink.

Klaus ignored the blue eyed vampire's comment.

"What else are you keeping from me, Damon?"

For a panicked moment, Damon's calm mask slipped and he thought that somehow Klaus was referring to Rhiannon. This did not go unnoticed by Klaus.

"Ah! So you are indeed keeping something from me! Go on, tell me."

Damon quickly composed his face, and averted his eyes to Elijah's body.

"I already know of you and Elijah's inquiries about the white oak, Damon. But there is something else. Tell me. I am warning you, I have grown tired of your games."

"Go to hell!" Damon hissed.

Klaus pressed his lips together in a tight line and shook his head regrettably. "You see, it really is a shame. Here I am, trying to be all civil-like, having a mature conversation. But you people have always responded best to violence."

The next thing Damon knew, Klaus had sent him flying, knocking a hole in the newly built wall. Damon quickly righted himself, felt his fangs protrude with rage, and started to retaliate against his attacker when his brain suddenly felt as if it was erupting. The excruciating pain brought him to his knees, and he held his head in his hands. After a second he realized what was going on. The mysterious man in the corner, who had remained silent and still until now, was a warlock at Klaus's disposal. The blond haired man was now walking towards Damon, with his hand stretched out, sending a barrage of malevolent energy into Damon's mind.

"And to think you could end all of this so easily," Klaus mused, his voice full of mock sympathy for Damon's agony.

Damon was writhing in pain on the floor, but he didn't want to give Klaus the satisfaction of seeing him this way. He gathered every ounce of his strength, did his best to shut out the pain that was surging through his brain, and pushed himself to his feet.

Even Klaus seemed impressed at his determination and self control. He glanced at the warlock, obviously giving him some type of silent signal to halt his efforts. The pain vanished and Damon breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"I'm giving you one last chance, just one, to tell me what you are hiding. You see, I know I will find out anyway what it is, just like there are plenty of other options that will infallibly lead me to the doppelganger. You are always hell-bent on defying me, making a mockery of me, and I have had enough of your antics. I will not hesitate to kill you. You have stood between me and what I want for far too long, and I have grown tired of being lenient. Choose your next words wisely, friend. They may very well be your last."

Damon knew he should be thinking of something to tell Klaus, but all of his thoughts drifted to Rhiannon. All he could think of was how much he loved her, how thankful he was to have had her, even if only for a few days. How gorgeous and strong and loving she was. How he wished he could have spent an eternity with her. How he wished he could kiss her one last time. And most of all, how she alone had been his redemption and his salvation when nothing and no one else had.

Damon's crystal blue eyes overflowed with tears, finding their escape down his cheeks. Damon thought of his beautiful red-haired angel and smiled sorrowfully, knowing it was probably his last.

Klaus looked at him quizzically, thinking for sure Damon had lost his mind. After a moment, Klaus shrugged and snapped a leg off of a wooden chair a few feet away.

"Such a shame," Klaus muttered. "This could have gone a completely different way. Any last words?"

Damon's eyes blinked away the last of his tears and hardened. "Fuck you!" he sneered defiantly.

Klaus nodded, as if he expected nothing less from Damon Salvatore. At blinding speed, he blurred over directly in front of Damon, and plunged the wooden table leg directly into a heart.

Only not the _**intended **_heart…

Without anyone realizing it, shadows had materialized and swiftly moved between the two angry vampires, materializing at the last moment.

It was Rowan.

Damon stared at Rowan incredulously, his mind full of questions.

_Why would he sacrifice himself for me of all people? He fucking hates me! Where did he even come from?_

Rowan's eyes began to glaze over, but he managed to focus on Damon long enough to say what he wanted to say.

"Love her. Tell her I love her," Rowan said breathlessly.

Damon was abruptly beside himself with grief over Rowan's death, primarily because of how he knew it would affect Rhiannon. Damon knew that besides himself, Rowan was all she had ever had. If he lived, Damon didn't know how he would ever repair the hole in her heart that losing Rowan would leave behind, but he would certainly try.

The warlock stood in a frozen amazement.

Klaus was staring in complete shock and disbelief, his mind struggling to put together the pieces. A vampire that he had not seen in centuries had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to spare Damon's life. Why would an ancient vampire sacrifice himself for a stupid, young, reckless one? And perhaps even more perplexing, the words Rowan had uttered before he died.

'_Love her. Tell her I love her,'_ Klaus's mind recalled the words. _But that's impossible! The only woman Rowan had ever loved had been Isolde, and she had been gone for more than 500 years now! I saw to that myself. The druids were eradicated, done and dealt with. _

But before Klaus could form another thought, about Rowan, Isolde, or Damon, there was a loud shatter that broke his concentration.

A massive black panther with large green eyes rounded the corner, and let out a deafening roar, that was somehow threatening and heartbroken simultaneously.

Klaus inhaled sharply, and his eyes widened as the panther shimmered into an enchanting young woman.

"Isolde?" Klaus asked warily, sure he was seeing a ghost.

A choking heartbreak swarmed through Damon, and he knew that Rhiannon had seen Rowan. He wanted to run to her to comfort her, but he restrained himself, thinking that it may be better momentarily if Klaus does not realize he is connected with her.

Forgetting Rowan and Klaus for a moment, Damon beamed at the sight of Rhiannon.

_Good God, she is beautiful! _

Her smooth, dark red hair flowed freely down past her waist, and she was wearing those thigh high black boots that he loved to see her in. But as he examined her a little more closely, Damon saw subtle differences about her appearance.

There was something about her beauty that seemed almost feral. And her eyes were so bright they were glowing with rage. Tears were slowly cascading down her face, but there was nothing about her that implied any weakness. Rhiannon looked more lethal than Damon had ever seen her. He cast a glance in Klaus's direction to see that his normally smug face looked scared shitless.

_Yeah, I'd probably have that same look if I didn't know she was on my team. I almost feel sorry for the bastard. Almost. Then again, no, not really_, Damon thought.

As clear as a bell in Damon's mind, as clearly as if Rhiannon actually were speaking to him, he heard her words: _Damon, I need you to listen to me. I need you to get out of here. Alaric is outside waiting. Go!_

Damon knew it would be the smart thing to do, to listen to her. Its what any reasonable person would do. But the thought of running out the door and leaving Rhi to face that hybrid bastard alone seemed more unnatural than the sun rising in the west. He was about to project back to her that he was staying and that was that, when that searing, blinding pain entered his mind again, crumpling him to the floor with its intensity.

Rhiannon's focus left Klaus to concentrate on Damon, who was doubled over in a pain that radiated through her mind. Unconsciously, she let out a hiss as she looked up at the warlock and realized the source of her true love's agony.

Before Rhiannon could take the warlock out, Klaus tackled her, knocking her to the ground.

"Fancy seeing you after all these years! I'm sure Elijah will be sorry he missed seeing you. And just think! He could've finally had you all to himself, seeing as how I just took care of Rowan!" Klaus said conversationally, as if he were discussing something as innocent as the weather.

"I must say, you do still look incredible after all these years, Isolde," Klaus continued, eyeing her in a disgusting way, and inhaled deeply. "What is that scent? Jasmine?"

Rhiannon was so filled with an untamed rage that her sight was nearly tinged with red. She tried not to think of Damon's pain, as she knew that the warlock could not actually kill him and that Klaus definitely could, making him by far the bigger threat.

She hated this bastard for having the nerve to mention her mother, after what he had done to her and the rest of her family, which now included Rowan. She had waited centuries for this, and she was about to get it. Her revenge.

Klaus stared at her lasciviously and brought his finger up to trace her jaw line down to her neck. Rhiannon flinched away from the contact, and suddenly the fangs that she had held at bay with great restraint pushed through her gums with full force. She felt the skin around her eyes cracking, and she saw the sheer horror in Klaus's eyes as he realized what she was about to tell him.

"I am _**not **_Isolde!" Rhiannon spat out through bared fangs, and in one swift motion she sent Klaus flying into the main staircase banister. She shot up to her feet, snatched out two stakes from the waistline of her jeans, dual-wielding one in each hand.

Klaus was dumbfounded. He cast a hateful glare at the warlock who was still preoccupied with Damon.

"You fool! Can you not tell who is the bigger problem here?" Klaus thundered.

"I'm so-sorry! I've been trying to stop her, but she must be immune!" the man replied, sounding like he was truly remorseful that he could not inflict his power on Rhiannon.

_He will be even sorrier soon enough_, Rhiannon promised herself, still bothered by Damon's strife, but determined to deal with Klaus once and for all.

"Who are you?" Klaus shouted in a quaking voice. "What do you want?"

Rhiannon grinned back at him wickedly. "I don't owe you a damned thing! Not after everything you've taken from me."

Realization dawned on Klaus as he watched her advance on him. "You're her child, aren't you? The baby? Now, just a minute! Just hold on! We can talk about this. What is it that you want? I'll give you anything!"

"To send you to hell," Rhiannon snarled viciously, and then she attacked him.

The warlock's focus was weakening from the duration of time he had spent channeling his malicious energy into Damon.

Briefly, his energy faltered, and Damon forced himself up and attempted to speed to where Rhiannon was, but the warlock re-focused his energy and brought Damon down to the floor once again.

Rhiannon's attention flickered to Damon only for a second, but it was long enough for Klaus to take advantage and with blurring speed he pinned her to the ground and shoved the stake she was wielding in her left hand deep inside her chest.

Rhiannon gasped at the pain. She knew it hadn't pierced her heart, but it came close enough to weaken her to the point of not being able to toss Klaus off of her.

Despite the blinding pain surging through his mind, Damon forced his eyes up to find the source of the gasp he heard. He found the strength somewhere inside of him to rise to his feet, moving one step slowly in front of the other, ignoring the warlock's persistent efforts to bring him back down.

All at once, the pain was erased, no longer emanating inside of his mind. Damon didn't even look back to see the cause of it, but he saw Ric, armed with his crossbow winking at him through the shattered window. Damon nodded in gratitude briefly, but his only real concern was that he needed to get to Rhi to help her. Damon rounded the corner and saw Klaus, kneeling over Rhiannon's body at the top of the staircase.

"You know, someone probably should have told you. I can't be killed," he heard Klaus whisper to Rhiannon.

In a flash, Damon was at Rhiannon's right side. His eyes locked on the stake that she was still gripping in her right hand and Damon knew exactly what to do.

Swiftly as a striking snake, Damon closed his hand around hers, and with all of his force brought their joined grips along with the stake around to Klaus's back and sank it right where Damon knew was the point of no return.

"Wanna bet?" Damon sneered as he watched Klaus roll to his side and begin to crack over.

After seeing that the once presumed invincible Original no longer posed a threat, Damon turned his attention to Rhiannon. He winced as he pulled the stake out of her chest, and she exhaled with relief.

Damon pulled her gently into his arms and cradled her into his chest like a child with his most precious possession.

"Its over, Rhi! Its all over!" Damon whispered in her ear as he rocked her.

Damon pulled back to see Rhiannon's pained face, and instinctively worried that she was more severely wounded. He reached to examine her chest, but she choked out one word in a broken voice that told him exactly what was hurting her.

"Rowan!" she cried.

**A/N I know. Huge sad face. It was emotional for me to write.**

***I listened to this song pretty frequently when my Dad passed away last year, and I couldn't imagine a more fitting song for Rowan and Rhiannon.**

**On a brighter note, at least Klaus is finished! Which means Stelena is soon to come crawling out of the woodwork now… stay tuned!**

**As always, please review! It honestly fuels my creativity more than anything else! Huge thanks to my faithful reviewers ;p**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N This chapter is gonna be mainly Dalaric-centric. Rhi is understandably out of it after losing Rowan. She will start dealing with his loss better soon, but for now she's still wrecked. **

**As always, thank you guys for reading=) You are all awesome.**

_Previously:_

"_Its over, Rhi! Its all over!" Damon whispered in her ear as he rocked her._

_Damon pulled back to see Rhiannon's pained face, and instinctively worried that she was more severely wounded. He reached to examine her chest, but she choked out one word in a broken voice that told him exactly what was hurting her._

"_Rowan!" she cried._

**Chapter 19**

**Chapter Song: Fix You by Coldplay**

Rhiannon did not say another word. Instead she buried her face in her hands and sobbed endlessly. Damon could feel the heartbreak that was radiating through her mind. Though he tried to soothe her to the best of his ability, but she seemed mostly unresponsive.

"Rhi? Listen to me. Rowan loved you. He told me to tell you that, he wanted you to know," Damon managed to choke out, his voice breaking from the transfer of her heartache. He stroked her hair lovingly and sanguinely wished his words would bring her some sort of comfort, but she only seemed to cry harder. Damon had never been good with tears, his first instinct was normally to leave the room at the first sign of them, but this was Rhiannon.

Damon knew that Rowan had been the only 'father' that Rhiannon had ever known, and now he was gone. Damon tried to relate to her grief the best that he could, but his own father and the circumstances of his death weren't exactly comparable to Rowan's.

Rowan had selflessly sacrificed himself to save him, undoubtedly for Rhiannon's happiness, but still Damon did not take it lightly. Rhiannon had fulfilled what she had always been destined to do, but now she had lost something irreplaceable, and she was broken. Damon felt helpless, and that was something he hated.

Alaric stepped inside and saw the scene at the top of the stairs. Rhiannon's knees were drawn into her chest, still crying but not quite as hysterically as she had been. Damon's face contorted with anguish as he looked on at her.

"Damon…" Ric said.

Reluctantly, Damon turned his head away from Rhiannon and forced his pained eyes to look at Ric.

"We need to take her home," Ric stated simply, and Damon nodded slowly.

Damon rose to his feet and was about to pick Rhiannon up when he remembered Elijah. He averted his eyes over to the suited, daggered Original, and Ric knew what he was thinking.

"You want to un-dagger him, don't you?" Ric sighed. He slightly disapproved of this, as the Originals had done nothing but cause complete hell and mayhem since they returned to Mystic Falls. If it were left up to Alaric to decide, all their asses would be daggered and dusted.

Damon recognized the disagreeable tone in Ric's voice and glared at him.

"What? Its not like any of this was really Elijah's fault. Klaus set both of us up when he figured out Elijah was conspiring against him."

"Hey, man, its your call," Ric said, throwing his hands up. "Just don't come running to me when he starts trying to kill you."

Damon rolled his eyes at Ric's half-baked prediction, and then looked down at Rhiannon. Though she had stopped crying, she seemed nearly catatonic. "Whatever. Look, do you think you can manage carrying her outside? Or is a 115lb girl too heavy for you?"

"I saved your ass just now, didn't I?" Ric scoffed.

"Yeah, a regular caped crusader, aren't you? Too bad my brain's still fried. Maybe if you knew the meaning of the word 'hustle,' Rhi wouldn't have gotten staked."

"And I repeat. I. Saved. Your. Ass," Alaric reiterated his point.

"And?" Damon asked sarcastically. He knew Ric wanted a 'thank you.' Damon knew he deserved one. But he hated when Ric got like this.

"Are you really that incapable of showing gratitude?" Ric asked, knowing that Damon was about to cave. Ric rarely got Damon to bow to anything he said, so he was going to savor it.

Damon sighed with frustration, letting his shoulders rise and fall with his exhale, crossing his arms across his chest and rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Thank you," Damon said, his sour tone not quite matching the fake smile plastered across his face as he blinked and widened his eyes more than necessary.

"You're welcome. And you know, that eye thing doesn't have any effect on me. To be honest, I don't know why chicks dig it either. That shit is kind of creepy."

Damon ignored his insult, and watched vigilantly as Ric lifted Rhiannon off of the floor and into his arms. He tried to push aside the small stab of jealousy he felt as he watched Ric cradle her as he walked downstairs. Damon knew he was just being stupid, he knew Ric better than that. Now Stefan on the other hand… no he wouldn't let Stefan anywhere near Rhiannon.

Damon un-daggered Elijah, and left him a note, appropriately stating:

_**We should probably talk…**_

_**XoXo, Damon**_

When he got to Rhiannon's car at the end of the long driveway, Damon hesitated.

"When did you get _this_?" he asked Ric.

"It's not mine, its your girlfriend's," Ric told him with a grin.

"Damn, she has some good taste!" Damon thought out loud, obviously including himself in the statement.

Ric rolled his eyes. "In the car, yes. In her clothes, hell yes. In you, ha! Poor girl doesn't know the trouble she's in for," he teased Damon.

The playful banter ended as Damon slid into the driver seat. Ric was in the passenger seat, with Rhi was sitting in the middle seat, glassy eyed and staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. Her face was streaked with tears, her lips a little swollen from one of the blows that Klaus had managed to land on her. Damon tried to absorb anything she might have been projecting but it was as blank as the expression on Rhiannon's face.

Ric noticed the evident concern on Damon's face as he stared at Rhiannon, and spoke up.

"Damon, let's just get her home right now," Ric whispered to his friend, as if Rhiannon could not hear them. If she did, she gave no indication.

Damon nodded, slowly turning the key in the ignition. He headed in the direction of the Boarding House, knowing full and well that taking her back to Leamineagh would make her think all the more about Rowan. His gaze was focused on the road, but Damon's thoughts were projecting to Rhiannon.

_I know you can hear me, Rhi. I love you, and I'm so sorry. But you're strong and you're gonna get through this, and I'm gonna help you. I'll be right here for you. Always._

Damon offered to drop Ric off at his apartment, but he insisted on going back to the Boarding House to help him out with Rhiannon. Even he seemed worried about her, much to Damon's surprise. When he had seen Ric outside the mansion after he had taken out the warlock, Damon had rather thought it was coincidence, that Ric had simply guessed Damon's whereabouts and shown up, like the vigilante he was. He didn't think Ric was very fond of Rhiannon, what with him shooting her and all. Even after Ric had found out she wasn't the enemy, he still didn't seem very thrilled about her. But now Alaric seemed genuinely concerned about Rhi. Damon admitted to himself that maybe he had misjudged the situation, and wondered to himself what had happened that took him from potential killer to now sympathizer where Rhi was concerned.

Damon thought to himself how grateful he was for Alaric, how once upon a time he thought for sure the guy would kill him. After all, he probably deserved it after everything with Isobel. But instead, Ric became his friend. A damn good one, at that. Damon had always thought of Stefan as his closest friend, the one he could count on no matter what, but who was there to save Damon's ass from the determined warlock so he could help Rhiannon? Sure as hell wasn't Stefan.

Of course, Ric wasn't perfect. He had a tendency to be judgy and controlling. He could be a complete pain in the ass, but even Damon had to admit he was hella handy with that crossbow. Ric was always there for Damon whenever he needed him. And Damon sincerely appreciated his friendship, even if he never mentioned it to him.

When they arrived at the Boarding House, Damon carried Rhiannon upstairs, helped her into the shower, and he put clean sheets on his bed while she showered. He gave her some of his pajamas, and helped her into his bed. She didn't seem quite as checked out of reality as she did in the car, but there wasn't a whole lot of improvement either. Her gaze was still predominantly unfocused, and she stayed mostly silent. Damon kissed her gently and then told her he loved her before closing his door to join Alaric downstairs for a few minutes.

Damon flopped down on the couch and Alaric could see he was visibly bothered, knowing his friend felt helpless where Rhiannon was concerned.

"Damon, she's gonna be alright. She's been through hell the past couple hours, she just needs time," Ric reassured him. When Damon didn't respond, he tried to lighten the mood.

"And hey, Klaus is dead! I don't know what we're all gonna do now that we don't have that bastard to worry about. I guess I'll have to take up a new hobby."

Damon smirked. "You mean something besides day drinking?" he snorted.

"I've cut back," Ric lied.

"Right…does the school principal at the high school know about the bottle of Jack Daniels you keep in your desk?"

Ric ignored him, and poured himself a generous glass of Damon's best bourbon.

"You want a drink? You deserve one after tonight," Ric said.

Damon thought over the question. Normally he would've gladly snatched up the bottle and downed it. Normally he would have scolded Ric for getting into his stash, as everyone knew Damon's policy for drinking was _'bring your own bottle.'_

But he felt no pull towards the bourbon tonight. As a matter of fact, the only pull Damon did feel was to be by Rhiannon's side upstairs.

He shook his head at Ric, and heaved himself up off the couch. "No, but thank you for kindly offering me some of _my own liquor_," Damon said sarcastically.

Ric laughed, and the two of them rehashed the details of the fight and Rhiannon's role in all of it.

"Wow, she really is something!" Ric said sipping on his drink.

"Yeah that reminds me. How did you and Rhi know where I was?" Damon asked.

"I don't know, man. She showed up on my doorstep a few hours after you called me, looking ten kinds of worried, wondering where the hell you were. I told her to come in, I had a pretty good idea where you were, I got ready-"

"Hold it! You invited her _in_?" Damon asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I like Rhi. I can sense the good in people, Damon."

"Which would be why you tried to kill her in this very room just yesterday?" Damon teased.

"You're such a dick," Ric grinned and polished off the rest of the expensive bourbon. "And besides, she really does love you, for some strange ass reason. Anyone can see how good she is for you."

A few silent minutes passed, and Ric knew Damon wanted to be with Rhiannon.

"Don't worry about me. Go on."

Damon nodded at his friend, grateful he understood without getting all emotional about it.

"Don't worry about your booze, either! I'll keep it good company!" Ric called to him when he reached the top of the stairs.

Damon rolled his eyes.

_What a douche! Ric wrecks his liver with the cheapest beer he can find when he's footing the bill, but he's a regular connoisseur when he comes over here_, Damon thought with a laugh, accepting the fact that the bottle of bourbon downstairs was as good as gone.

Damon opened the door to his room quietly, moved silently to his bathroom where he showered, and then slipped into bed next to Rhiannon. It was daylight now, but the dark curtains in his bedroom kept out just about any trace of light. He snuggled up next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist, anchoring her to him gently. Damon noticed that the rhythm of her breathing was calm and even. He guessed that she was peacefully asleep, and was instantly grateful. He nuzzled the back of her neck, inhaling her wonderful scent and projected to Rhiannon before he fell asleep.

_I love you, Rhi. That's what Rowan told me to do, and that's just what I'm gonna do._

**A/N More Damon and Rhiannon in the next Chapter =) Thanks for reviewing!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N Sorry for taking so long to update. My mind needed a vacation =) Speaking of minds, I would like to take a moment to clarify. Rhiannon and Damon do not share Edward Cullen-esque mind reading abilities. They can only hear each other's thoughts if one of them loudly and intentionally 'projects' that thought to the other. Under normal circumstances, they can only feel the thematic current of the other's thoughts, and even that is only felt if the thought is strong. They are quite able to hide thoughts from one another, given they aren't too emotional. All that said, Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 20**

**Chapter Song: Creep by Radiohead**

Maybe it was the fact that they had gotten so little sleep since they reunited, or maybe they just felt so comfortable wrapped in each other's arms. Whatever the reason, Damon and Rhiannon slept for an entire 24 hours, and didn't open their eyes until 6am the next morning. When Rhiannon awoke, the first thing she remembered was Rowan. The sadness gripped her like an iron vice, her heart hurt so badly she nearly was in physical pain, and unwelcome but nevertheless present tears stung her eyes. She closed her eyes tightly, and took a deep breath.

_Wherever Rowan is now, I don't believe he is missing Mother anymore. Maybe he is even with her, and he can finally be happy. Rowan deserves happiness after all these years he has suffered_, she told herself.

The tightness in her chest began to wither away, and with another breath she wiped away the tears that managed to escape her eyes. Rhiannon knew she would always miss Rowan. Without him loitering around, guiding her, training her, teaching her, there was a part of her heart that was gone. She knew there was no point of trying to get it back, because he had taken it with him when he died. Rowan had sacrificed himself to save Damon, his last act of unselfishness for which Rhiannon would be ever grateful. It was a debt she knew she could never repay to him, but she at least hoped Rowan had found peace, wherever he was now. And maybe if it wasn't too much to ask, Rhiannon prayed that he was finally with her mother, Isolde.

She smiled at the thought of what she hoped for Rowan, and decided she didn't think it was too much to ask. No matter what he was, Rowan was innately good. If he wasn't deemed worthy of Heaven, he at least deserved Isolde. And Rhiannon knew that to him, Isolde and Heaven were one in the same. A small noise interrupted her thought process. A snore coming from behind her head. She was suddenly overcome with the desire to see Damon's face, as if she had missed him badly after all the time they spent asleep. Her anxious desire to see him at war with her consideration of not wishing to wake him, she carefully pried herself out of his arms, forcing herself to be gentle, and twisted around so she could see his face.

_After all this time he still snores_, she smiled to herself.

It wasn't an obnoxious noise, it was actually quite endearing, but then again there was very little Rhiannon didn't find endearing about Damon. His dark hair was ruffled, poking in all directions. She grinned and shook her head slightly as she thought to herself that no one made bed head look near as sexy as Damon did. His full lips were barely parted as he inhaled and exhaled. He was shirtless, which was another glorious sight, and sprawled out peacefully across the bed.

Rhiannon knew that even angels had to be envious of how beautiful he was. Damon was especially breathtaking when he was asleep. There was no threat of snarky comments escaping his perfect mouth, not that any of them were usually directed at her anyhow. There was no sexually suggestive wiggling of his eyebrows, not that she really minded that either. There was just Damon, looking beautiful and innocent.

Rhiannon could smell the distinct aroma of coffee wafting through the room, and she guessed that Alaric was downstairs. She was thankful that Damon had such a good friend, someone who obviously even cared enough to kill for him, and risk his own life in the process.

_Even though none of that will be necessary anymore_, Rhi thought triumphantly.

Her throat was a little dry, and though she wasn't a coffee person, Rhi decided to venture downstairs to go in search of some tea bags. She gently lifted herself off the bed, smiling at Damon who remained undisturbed. She was still wearing his pajama pants and one of his white undershirts, which obviously looked a lot different on her than on him.

In the kitchen, she found Alaric facing away from her, looking out the window.

"Good morning," Rhi said to him cheerfully.

"Jesus!" Ric shouted, as he jumped a good four inches off the ground, spilling his coffee all over his neatly ironed dress shirt. "Oh, its just you. Sorry, Rhi, you scared the shit outta me. Man, you are super quiet! I'm used to hearing Damon's heavy footed ass coming down those stairs. He's hard to miss."

Forgetting her tea, Rhi flitted to his side with a dish towel to help dry the spilt coffee but it was no use. Ric accepted the towel gratefully, but when he looked down to examine his shirt, he knew it was beyond help, and he lifted the shirt over his head, discarding it to the kitchen floor.

"I am so sorry! I guess I am on the quiet side. I never take time to notice it, I've never spent too much time in the company of humans to notice it. You aren't burned are you?" Rhi asked him in a concerned voice.

Ric was about to ease her concern and tell Rhi he only ever drank his coffee lukewarm, when he saw a familiar blue-eyed stare over her left shoulder. Even without a full dose of caffeine, even this early in the morning, Ric noticed something in those eyes that he had never seen before. Jealousy.

"What's going on?" Damon fought to keep himself from growling as he took in the scene before him. A shirtless Ric was standing close enough to Rhi he was almost touching her. The look on Rhi's face was full of concern, which only troubled Damon more, as he only liked to see that look directed his way. And as if to throw kerosene on the raging fire, Ric's soaked coffee soaked shirt was wadded up on the floor.

_Like he is gonna mop this mess up_, Damon thought disdainfully. _He doesn't even rinse out his bourbon glass!_

Damon struggled to ignore his own jealousy in an effort to hide it from Rhiannon. Somehow none of the anger he felt was directed toward her. Rhi was perfection in its most basic form, a God-sent angel in a vampire/druid form. Damon loved her more than words could describe, but he felt like he didn't deserve her. She was too good. The kind of good that was pure, not that self-righteous bullshit Stefan was always parading. Rhi was _**his**_, but everything that he ever wanted he somehow always lost to someone else. The someone else was normally Stefan, but it looked to Damon like Ric was trying to do a good job as runner-up in his absence. Damon hated being jealous, it was a disgusting, consuming feeling after all. But it was something he was unfortunately used to, and it was difficult to convince him that it was needless.

The look on Ric's face told him he knew what he was thinking. About the shirtless scene with Rhiannon, at least. Rhi whipped her head around, and beamed at him. The expression on her face and how incredible she looked in his clothes almost made Damon forget about the situation. Almost. She forgot all about Alaric and his mess, and blurred over to throw her arms around Damon, nearly knocking him over with her enthusiasm.

"I missed you," she confessed into his ear. Her voice was like honey.

"I missed you too, Kitten," he told her as he kissed her hair. His tone was lighter, he worked hard to not 'feel' any negativity because he knew she would catch it if he did. But that didn't keep Damon from glaring at the nervous history teacher across the room.

Rhi pulled herself out of his embrace, unaware of the silent exchange going on between them, and looked up at Damon.

"Would it be entirely pointless to assume you have any tea here?" she asked sanguinely.

Damon nodded at her. "Upstairs, check the bottom of my soap dish."

"You keep tea bags in your soap dish?" Rhi asked him incredulously.

Damon shrugged as if it was nothing unusual. "Stefan goes through my stuff like its nobody's business. And yet I am the one who always has to do the grocery shopping. So as with most things," he said as he lifted his eyes back to Alaric meaningfully, "if I have something that I want to keep, I am forced to hide it."

Rhi was still oblivious to anything going on between Damon and Ric, and she bounded upstairs in search of the tea. She had caught a portion of Damon's irritation, but she knew that he had never been a morning person, and guessed that Ric shouting had more than likely woke him.

"Look, Damon -" Ric began to explain.

"Oh, I did _look._ Believe me, Ric. I did," Damon retorted sarcastically.

Ric rolled his eyes at Damon's suspicion. "Stop with that already! You're acting like a jackass. Rhi came into the kitchen, told me good morning, it scared me, I jumped and spilled coffee all over my shirt. End of story."

"I'll act however the hell I want to act!" Damon spat out, trying to ignore the new stab of jealousy that infiltrated his mind as he heard Ric refer to Rhiannon by _his _nickname for her. Damon knew he was likely being impulsive and stupid, but he couldn't rein it in. All he could still see before him was a bare-chested Ric. "And you're still shirtless?"

"So are you!" Ric said defensively.

"It's _**my**_house, you moron! _**My **_house, _**my **_girlfriend! Got it?" Damon sneered. He noticed that he wasn't satisfied by referring to Rhiannon as merely his girlfriend, as it almost seemed like an insult to her. After all, she was so much more to him than that simple term implied, but for now it would suffice to make his point.

"Damon!" Rhi half shouted. Her tone both chided and consoled him. She had felt his growing anger, and a couple other feelings she couldn't quite place, and came to investigate before she found the tea she had gone looking for. Damon was mortified that she had overheard any of this. The sight of her pulled him out of his blind jealous rage and back into reality. He hated seeing that worried look on her face, hated knowing that he put it there. Rhi was going through enough on her own, without dealing with his crap, too. Losing Rowan had caused her so much pain, and though she looked immensely better today, he could still feel the undercurrent of the pain emanating from her mind.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_ Damon scolded himself._ Ric's right. I am being a jackass._

He realized he was acting as ridiculous as a possessive cave man, and he hated himself for it. Alaric and Rhiannon were standing in the kitchen together. So what if he had ruined his shirt with coffee? Damon recalled him doing that several times before, so why should the fact that it happened with Rhi present suddenly make it a crime? Damon huffed out a deep breath and swallowed loudly. Rhi walked towards him, placing her hands on the side of his face, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her concern blazed through him like wildfire. The intensity of her emerald green eyes was captivating, too hard to turn away from even if he cared to try.

"Damon, what is wrong?"

As badly as he didn't want to admit the truth to her, Damon refused to lie to her. And unfortunately, there wasn't really any way he could sugarcoat this. His careful façade of masked jealousy dissolved.

"I just… I saw the two of you… and Ric's shirt…and I thought…"

Shock crossed Rhiannon's face. She knew Damon was deeply aggravated at Ric, she had felt it. She knew that he must've been trying very hard to suppress his jealousy to keep her from feeling it. Damon had succeeded in his efforts, until just now.

"You're jealous?" she asked him, still not sure if she had come to the right conclusion.

Damon started to say something to lessen the blow to his ego somehow, to defend himself in some way, but instead, he lowered his blue eyes to the floor. He looked very much like a child ashamed of their actions.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna take off. I'm late to work as it is," Alaric said softly as he disappeared out of the room.

Rhi merely nodded without shifting her eyes away from Damon, and Damon was too entranced by Rhi's eyes to acknowledge Ric at all.

"Damon, there is nothing or no one you ever have to be jealous of. As long as I have you, I have everything I have ever wanted. I don't want anyone else. I have never wanted anyone else, nor will I. Don't you know that by now?"

Damon sighed, and before he could answer her, he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

Rhiannon had finally felt a strong enough current of Damon's thoughts to name the last unnamed emotion in his mind. Unworthiness. After everything he had seen and felt, after all that they had been through together, Damon did not feel worthy of her.

"What is it?" he asked her softly.

"How can you feel that?" she whispered back to him through tears.

That clarified it enough for Damon. He already knew she was aware of his jealousy and his anger. And at this point, it was no use acting like he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Because, Rhi!" Damon barked a little too loudly. In a softer voice, he continued. "How could I deserve you? I always mess things up. I'm always lashing out at someone, always being irrational. The things I've done, all the shit I continue to do? Its me, its what I do. But not you. You're better than me. You deserve better. I try to ignore it, I try to pretend like I deserve you. I do a damn good job of it most of the time, but when I do stupid shit like this, it slaps me right in the face. You-"

"Shh!" Rhiannon silenced him by placing one of her fingers on his lips. Despite everything he was saying, she was a lot calmer and she had stopped crying. "Damon, we are soul mates. Whether we deserve each other or not is irrelevant. Your actions over the course of the past century are inconsequential to how I feel about you. I know you've done bad things, but I love you regardless. I know you were hurt, and I believe the majority of your bad decisions were caused by your pain. The pain of losing me, even if you didn't remember it. And then, Katherine. And most recently, Elena," Rhiannon said. She spoke calmly, but even she was barely able to voice those two names out. Rhiannon saw Damon's eyes widen at her words. "Yes, I know about both of them, Damon. I know that you loved them, and I know they didn't love you back and it hurt you. And when you're hurt, you act out, you retaliate. That _**is**_ what you do, and I understand. It doesn't make you right, but I understand, and its okay. Its why I don't hurt you, Damon. I _**love**_ you. Its only ever been _**you**_."

The power and sincerity of Rhiannon's words cured Damon of his feelings of unworthiness and his jealousy. Even Damon, himself, was surprised at how quickly the feelings vanished. There was something about her voice and her choice of words that gave him an almost magical release from all his bad thoughts.

"I love you, too," he said to her.

Suddenly her lips found his, and she was kissing away any trails of doubt left in his mind.

_She just lost Rowan yesterday, but she is the one comforting me?_ Damon thought as he eagerly kissed her back.

Then Damon heard her words loudly in his mind.

"_Stop thinking so loudly and just kiss me!"_

Damon responded to her request by deepening the kiss, first knotting his fingers in her long hair, then running his hands down her back. He latched onto her thighs and lifted her up on the island in the center of the kitchen. With Rhiannon now perched on the island, they were nearly the same height. She ran her arms around him, tightening him close to her. Her legs mimicked her arms as they tightened around his waist. In one swift motion, Damon shredded the white tank top that she was wearing and the remnants of the flimsy garment fell to the floor. She giggled at his action, and just as she was about to kiss him again, someone cleared their throat.

Rhiannon peered over Damon's shoulder to see someone she had not seen in years, and someone else she had never laid eyes on.

Damon turned around, purposely shielding Rhi's half-nakedness from their intruders. The two people staring back at them made no attempt to avert their eyes politely or disguise their gawking.

"Hello, brother," Damon drawled unpleasantly. "Elena," he added.

**A/N Yes, I know. Cliffhanger. =/ I'm bad.**

**I will update soon! Please, please, please review =)**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N Stefan & Elena return…o.0**

**Let's see how this is gonna go!**

**Chapter 21**

**Chapter Song: Survive by Rise Against**

_**Life for you has been less than kind,**_

_**So take a number, stand in line,**_

_**We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt,**_

_**But how we survive**_

_**Is what makes us who we are…**_

**Damon's POV**

What the fuck? Seriously? Another interruption, and from these two, no less. I didn't know whether I was more surprised to see them or more pissed at both their timing and their return.

Stefan and Elena have been off the map, completely under the radar for almost two full weeks, and they choose to return right as I was about to… yeah. I had heard nothing, _**nothing**_, from either one of their asses. They had left me here like bait for Klaus, knowing who he would come after in their absence. Did they care? Hell, no. Stefan and Elena were together again, in love like nothing had ever come between the two of them.

I felt Rhi's embarrassment infiltrating my mind, and I remembered she was topless behind me. I shifted my body so that she was covered, and she leaned herself into my back and nestled her chin into the right side of my neck. I knew that Stefan probably remembered Rhiannon. Even though Rowan had compelled him to forget her in addition to me, when Rowan had died, the effects of his compulsion had went with him. Stefan was still staring at her. It may have been completely innocent, but I didn't like it to say the least. The absolute very least.

"Hello, brother," I said, breaking the tense silence. "Elena."

I was suddenly surprised to find that Elena no longer captivated me the way she used to. Sure she was an attractive girl, she always had been. But I had found what I had been looking for all these years, and it sure as hell wasn't Elena. It was an intensely liberating experience to stand there in front of Stefan, with Elena's arm wrapped tightly around his waist, and not be wrecked with envy of my brother.

Neither one of them made any move to reply or politely avert their eyes. Alright, this was getting old.

"If neither of you want to say anything, believe me, I'm more than okay with it. But surely there's _**something**_ else you could be doing. That is, unless you've decided to take up voyeurism as a new hobby," I remarked snidely. If they had been expecting a warm welcome back home from me, they could go to hell.

Stefan blinked and tried a few times to pull his eyes away from Rhiannon, finally succeeding. An involuntary growl rumbled low inside of my chest, and I felt Rhi's fingers interlace with mine. It was probably correct to assume she could feel my jealousy, but I was past all the emotional evasiveness now with her.

"Hello, Damon," Stefan began awkwardly. "Elena and I just got back."

"Thanks for the update, Captain Obvious. Really appreciate it. You can go now," I sneered. I knew I was being rude, but I didn't give a damn.

"Damon…" Elena said. I felt Rhi stiffen as she averted her attention to the doe eyed girl standing at my brother's side.

Elena continued, "I know that you are angry that we left the way we did. And I just want you to know you have every right to be. We're sorry. We should never have left you here the way we did."

All that talk about how neither one of us needed to be jealous seemed to have flown out the window, because a radiated wave of Rhi's jealousy hit me like a ton of bricks. It was beyond needless for her to be jealous of Elena, or anyone else for that matter. I turned to face her, careful not to expose her in any way. Her sharp eyes (which gave a whole new meaning to the term 'green with envy') met mine reluctantly, and her beautiful mouth was a little on the pouty side. I relaxed my face, and ever so slightly shook my head at her.

_Don't feel that. There's no reason for you to feel like that. I love you, Rhi. Do you understand me?_ I thought loudly knowing she would hear me.

She didn't project back, just nodded one small nod. This quick silent exchange between the two of us was lost on Stefan and Elena.

"Damon, did you just hear what I said to you?" Elena whined. Oh, how glad I was that Stefan was now the one, the only one, who was sentenced to endure her incessant nagging.

Grudgingly, I turned my face away from Rhiannon. "Yes, Elena. I heard you. But do I give a damn?" I squinted my eyes and sarcastically pretended to be deep in thought. "Nope. Can't say that I do. Now go ahead. Run along. I'm sure you both have some juicy diary entries just waiting to be penned."

"Damon," Stefan interrupted. "Elena's right, we shouldn't have left you behind."

"Well, gee, that's just swell Stefan. It thrills me to see all of that soul-searching didn't leave you empty-handed. I'm sure the two of you were just racked with guilt while you were away. Glad your consciences can take a load off. Now really, leave," I spat out.

"C'mon, Damon! I know you're pissed, I get it. But we came back to help fight Klaus. We wanted to do the right thing!" Stefan said.

There it was. Stefan's crap ass explanation. A week ago, this might have meant something to me. Now, it may as well have fell on deaf ears, because I really wanted nothing more than for the two of them to leave Rhi and I the hell alone. I had given Stefan and Elena more than enough opportunities to leave us to our privacy, so I felt no remorse when I unleashed my fury on them.

"_**The right thing, Stefan?**_" I thundered, and felt Rhi flinch. "The right thing, _brother_, would've been not to leave someone behind to fight your battles for you. Your fucking battle! She wasn't my girlfriend, it wasn't my obligation to protect her, but you knew I was in love with her, and you used that to your advantage." I paused momentarily and gripped Rhiannon's hand tighter, took another second to mentally project to Rhi that I loved her before continuing. "So excuse me if I'm not so ecstatic to see you. Your eleventh hour clarity doesn't mean shit to me."

"But Klaus-" Elena interjected.

"Klaus is dead! Dealt with, finished. No thanks to the two of you!" I hissed.

Stefan and Elena's eyes grew wide and their mouths gaped open in shock, trying to digest the news.

"Dead? Are you sure Damon? And how? Did you find the other White Oak?" Stefan asked wondrously. Even if he remembered meeting Rhiannon in 1860, neither I nor Stefan knew what she truly was or what she was capable of. Still, his questions annoyed the hell out of me.

His sudden consideration in all of Mystic Falls current events stung me like a paper cut, but I knew the sooner his broody little mind was satisfied, Stefan would leave me alone.

"Yes, me, and no. In that order," Rhi spoke over my shoulder. Her voice had a slight edge to it, sweet enough not to seem bitter, but bitter enough not to seem sweet.

Stefan's eyes narrowed on her and it was a full minute before he spoke again. Perhaps still contemplating her answers. Perhaps trying to place how he knew her.

"You… you killed Klaus?" he croaked out, clearly in disbelief of his own words.

I snuck a peek at Rhi and saw that she had a smug smile planted on her face. Her eyes were lit up with pride as she stared back at my brother. "Well, I had a little help," she added playfully.

"I've seen you before. Rhiannon, right? You were with Damon…you… you're a vampire, aren't you?" he asked her. A regular whiz kid, my little bro.

"No, Stefan. She's really a zombie! Or a Ninja Turtle! That time travels!" I mocked him in a dry tone. To my displeasure, he ignored me and remained focused on Rhiannon.

"Half-vampire," she corrected.

"Half?" Stefan and Elena jinxed themselves.

"You mean, she's a _hybrid?_" Elena squealed, her voice reeking with distaste.

I felt Rhiannon bristle at the judgment in her tone, and felt her struggle to keep her breathing even. I sensed a deep concentration coming from her, and I guessed what she was about to do. It was confirmed when I saw the two horrified faces in front of me.

I smirked as Rhi, in her very large, very intimidating panther form gracefully leapt down from the island in the kitchen to the floor with a loud thud.

"Rhiannon is a hybrid, but not the kind you've encountered before. She is a half-vampire, half-druid. The only one of her kind to ever exist," I said, noticing the pride in my voice as I described how wonderfully unique she was.

I watched Rhiannon as she stalked predatorily over to stand in front of Elena, who looked like she was on the verge of jumping into Stefan's arms. When she was a few inches away, Rhi paused and made a sound that resembled a laugh. I snickered with amusement and Elena's eyes shot daggers at me.

"And Rhiannon killed Klaus?" Stefan asked, diverting my attention.

I nodded and a loud roar ripped through the kitchen, and I felt the disagreement in Rhi's thoughts.

"With a bit of assistance from me," I clarified for her sake. I eyed her meaningfully.

_Happy?_ I teased her playfully.

_Now that you've given yourself credit, yes. I'm going to go upstairs to change into something more appropriate. I'll be right back_, she told me silently.

I nodded as I watched her bound off and scale the staircase in a most unusual fashion as she leapt over the banister. I winced as I heard her claws scrape the wood floor, and wondered jokingly if she could be de-clawed.

"Where is she going?" Stefan asked curiously as he watched her disappear upstairs.

"Oh, she's just going to find some clothes to change into. She'll be right back," I told him.

His brow furrowed as he contemplated my explanation. "How do you know that?"

I understood Stefan noticed that Rhi had not verbalized her intention, so he was curious.

"I have my ways," I told him cryptically.

A few seconds ticked by, and I decided to seize the opportunity to clean up Ric's coffee stained shirt and what was left of the undershirt Rhi had been wearing. Elena surprised me by speaking up.

"Well, she's pretty," she admitted as she flipped her long straight hair over her shoulder.

"Very," Stefan added too quickly. I could almost feel my eyes ice over into a cold stare. He squirmed a little under my glare, and tried to make himself look innocent to both Elena and me. "I was just stating the obvious. She's cute," Stefan shrugged.

Cute didn't begin to describe Rhiannon, but if Stefan thought it was enough to get him out of the doghouse with Elena, then so be it. I would not be so easy to sway. Stefan is my brother, and I love him, but he has always, _always_ coveted what was mine. I knew that Rhi loved me, I was confident that she would not leave me, but it irritated the hell out of me that Stefan found her appealing.

"Elena, would you excuse us for a moment? I'd like to have a word with Stefan."

"Where am I supposed to go? And what if _she-"_

"Jesus Christ, Elena! She's not gonna bite you!" I hissed. Really, the girl was being ridiculous. A few months back, Elena was fine with Stefan the Ripper, all high and hopped up on the junk, but now an overgrown housecat she feared?

Indignation sparked in her brown eyes, and her lips pressed into a hard line. "Well, how was I supposed to know? No one can keep up with all the sluts you drag home anyway."

I tensed at her comment. If I was being honest with myself, I probably deserved it. "That won't be the case anymore," I said in a quiet but serious voice.

Elena's eyebrows raised and she looked at Stefan. He didn't seem surprised by my admission.

"Damon loves her, Elena. He has loved her for a very long time. I'm sure there's much more to the story that I don't know, but I doubt he's gonna be the same philanderer we're used to seeing around here," Stefan told her.

Elena considered Stefan's words for a moment, smiled softly, and then walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with my brother. I blurred over in front of him, and looked straight into his eyes.

"Look, but don't even think about touching," I threatened. "Don't even look too long, and don't even think about _thinking_ of touching. Got it?"

"Alright, relax! After all the hell you put me through with Elena and now you're gonna go all possessive over Rhiannon when I only looked at her? Are you incapable of seeing the hypocrisy in all that, Damon?"

Of course he was right. I had done my very best to steal Elena away from him. Especially over the summer. But she had never wanted me. _Its Stefan, its always gonna be Stefan._ And true to her word, Elena had raced back to Stefan as soon as he was free from Klaus's compulsion and back on the bunnies. She had made her choice, and it had hurt like hell in the beginning. Even before I remembered all that I was made to forget, Rhiannon erased all of my Elena-related heartache. Rhi put things into perspective. Sharing a reciprocated love with her and remembering what we had shared made me understand that no one else in my life, not even Elena, even came close to Rhiannon.

"Yeah, I'm not going there with you," I told him, referring to his hypocrisy accusation. "Believe me, Stefan, that's all over with now. Elena is all yours."

"I know. You're different with Rhiannon, something about the way you sound when you're talking about her… I'm happy for you, Damon."

A part of me was pleased that Stefan could see this, and that he was happy for me, but mostly it was just a really awkward moment between us. I silently hoped for anything that would break the strange silence, and then something did.

Rage that didn't belong to me began radiating through my mind and a deafening roar followed by a blood-curdling scream coming from the parlor.

Oh shit!

Stefan and I scrambled to the source of the noise to investigate. Rhiannon, still in her panther form, was crouched aggressively over Elena. The panther's mouth was hovering threateningly just over her throat, and Elena's entire body was shivering, right down to her curly hair.

What a minute, curly hair? Oh, this is bad. Really bad. Now it made sense.

"Katherine," I sneered.

**A/N Thank you for reading! Reviews are love =D**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N Simply put, sometimes writing in first person is just more fun. I jumped inside Rhiannon's head for this one. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 22**

**Chapter Song: Lights Out by Breaking Benjamin**

**Rhiannon's POV**

I made it to the top of the stairs in two graceful leaps and tried to shove away the jealousy that was still pulsing through me. Elena was back now. I told myself it was childish to be envious of the girl. But in my absence, Elena had managed to capture Damon's heart. Damon was blameless, obviously. I wouldn't fault Elena too much if it weren't for the fact that she claimed to love Stefan. She had toyed with Damon's affections and his heart, and that was what bothered me more than anything. Of course, nothing Elena has ever done came close to touching Katherine's duplicity. I hated even thinking about her.

What Katherine had done to Damon, pretending to be in love with him when all she really wanted was Stefan, allowing him to believe she had been sealed up in that damn tomb all those years, making him grief-stricken and heartbroken. Damon had agonized over her since the day he was turned into a vampire, and besides the emptiness that Rowan's compulsion left behind in his heart, Katherine's deception was the reason he had lived his life so nefariously.

_That bitch! _

I shook my head as I rounded the corner into Damon's room. I inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of his room. I was still in my panther form, and my sense of smell was much more acute. I had forever committed Damon's spicy, chocolaty, bourbon-y scent to my memory. I knew it as well as my own jasmine smell, and Rowan's mixture of pine and rain. When I had shapeshifted downstairs, I recorded Stefan's sandalwood and Elena's floral scent. It would most likely prove to be unnecessary, but it was sometimes useful to know who was around you just by doing something as simple and innocent as breathing.

I heard someone with a heartbeat coming up the stairs, and turned to see Elena walking in the hall past Damon's open door. She looked irritated. I took a small amount of satisfaction at the possibility that I might be the cause of her frustration. Elena paused briefly to flip her hair over her shoulders and stared me down through narrowed eyes.

_I hope to hell she doesn't think she scares me._

I slowly prowled over to the door frame, pulled my lips back over my razor teeth and let out a raspy hiss. She bolted out of my sight, and slammed the door to whatever room she scampered into. I flicked my long tail playfully, secretly amused at teaching her a lesson. It was petty, I know. Should I rise above this? Absolutely. Was I ready to rise above it now? No. It would take me awhile, and if Elena continued baiting me it would only take longer.

The only outfit I had was the one I had worn to kill Klaus. I shimmered back to my regular form and grimaced as I searched for it, remembering it had been torn and bloodied from where he had staked me. I finally found my clothes, washed and clean, hanging neatly in Damon's closet. My shirt had even been mended. I pulled the shirt over my head after putting on my jeans and my boots, and smiled as I pictured Damon sewing the torn fabric. Sometimes, that man was just too charming for words.

I looked in the mirror and smoothed out my long hair. I was walking towards the door, I caught a trace of a scent that I had not smelled in ages. A nearly unmistakable smell of bergamot and deceit.

Katherine.

_No! It can't be…_

There was one way to find out. Half a second later, I was back in my feline form, inhaling deeply through my sensitive nose, desperately seeking a confirmation of her presence. It was her, all right. But what is she doing here?

_She's about to get her ass handed to her, that's what. _

I snarled at the thought of Katherine being anywhere near Damon. I felt the fur on the nape of my neck bristle into a hard line as I stealthily stalked into the hallway. The smell grew slightly stronger as I silently made my way down the stairs.

And there she was in the middle of the parlor. As vulnerable as she could be, facing the fireplace. I couldn't decide if it pleased me or disappointed me that Katherine wouldn't see my attack coming.

An electric current of adrenaline surged throughout my body, permeating right down to my core as I poised to attack her. My ears flattened and even my whiskers seemed to vibrate with anticipation.

Ultimately, my theatrical side won out. A feral roar ripped out of my mouth, commanding her attention as I sprang at her. Katherine turned around just in time to see me flying at her and screamed. She sidestepped away from my leap, but she wasn't fast enough to get completely out of my reach. With my right paw, I slapped the left side of her face, raking my sharp claws across her skin. The forceful blow brought her down on her back and I pinned her to the floor with my weight. My animalistic behavior took over as I took in the sight of her bloodied face and felt my face contort into a sinister snarl. The horror and shock on her face was priceless as I bared my teeth over her throat.

In the background I could hear the shuffling of hurried footsteps. I didn't bother turning my attention away from my captured prey, I knew it was Damon and Stefan.

"Katherine," I heard Damon say her name. It came out sounding like a curse.

"Yes, Damon! Now how about calling your new pet off of me!" the bitch had the nerve to say.

Before Damon could say a word, I roared menacingly. I was no one's pet! I wished for a moment I was no longer a panther so I could tell her that. Instead, I bit into her shoulder and sent her soaring into the adjacent wall. Katherine's body made a loud thud when she collided, and a painting crashed down to the floor with her.

_Ooh! Nice one!_ I heard Damon's voice congratulating me in my mind.

_Thanks. Hope you weren't too attached to that painting_, I projected back to him in response.

_No worries. That was just more of Stefan's junk. Carry on, kitten._

Katherine was crumpled on the floor, her mouth gaping open as she saw me bounding toward her once again. She zoomed up the stairs in a flash, perched herself on the railing, and stared down at Stefan and Damon with a pleading look in her eyes.

_Leave the boys out of this, Honey. This is between you and me…_ I thought to no one but myself, wishing she could hear me.

Stefan was the only one of them that looked even mildly affected. Damon on the other hand, looked like he was enjoying it.

"Aren't you gonna stop her?" I heard Stefan ask Damon.

Damon just shrugged. "Are you kidding me? And be on the receiving end of those claws? No, thank you. Besides, who am I to stop a good girl fight?" Damon's tone was blasé, but I could hear the direction of his thoughts. He was remembering everything I was capable of doing in a fight. After watching my training sessions with Rowan and my final showdown with Klaus, he had a good idea of what I could do, and he was confident in my abilities. Damon's thoughts hesitated a moment as he recalled Klaus staking me.

_That only happened because I was worried about what that warlock was doing to you! _I defended myself to him.

_Yes, dear_, he teased back.

I coiled my body together and tensed up as I prepared to spring up to snatch Katherine's scrawny ass right off the ledge. Before I could execute the jump, I heard another set of footsteps rushing down the hallway. I cursed inwardly as I saw Elena running into view. Upon seeing Katherine, Elena's face blanched and her heartbeat took off. There was something about this that troubled me. Katherine must have done something to scare her, threatened her in some way in the past. And while I may have gotten a kick out of hissing at Elena upstairs to teach her a lesson, it was purely innocent. I would never really hurt the girl. Katherine on the other hand, was a very different story. I knew what sort of dark, sadistic things she was capable of.

In a flash, Katherine seized Elena, roughly anchoring her arm around her neck to hold her captive. The look in Elena's eyes was one of pure terror. She knew Katherine wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Something about Elena's blatant vulnerability kicked my protective instinct into overdrive. Whether or not I was Elena's biggest fan, I would not allow Katherine to harm her in any way.

An involuntary growl escaped my mouth, and I heard panic in the voices behind me.

"Katherine, calm down!" Stefan tried to reason.

"Yeah, leave Elena outta this," Damon added.

"The cat or Elena! Make your choice!" Katherine commanded with a smug face. She thought she had the upper hand, she liked having the upper hand. She usually did, but not now.

_Don't worry, Damon. I got this_, I told him without speaking a word.

I concentrated on what I wanted to do, and felt my panther form dissipate in an instant. To everyone else in the room, I had vanished, but I had really just melted into the shadows. I moved upstairs, completely undetected, and stopped directly behind Katherine, who was entirely oblivious to my presence. Quickly I shimmered back into my normal, two-legged form. Rage was too strong in me to keep me from vamping out, and I felt my fangs protrude as soon as I felt my tail fade away.

"What the hell-" Katherine yelled as her eyes frantically searched for the missing cat, but she was cut short when I snapped her neck.

Elena quickly distanced herself from the heap on the floor that was Katherine, eyeing me closely as though she was unsure what she thought of me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, and felt my fangs recede and my eyes return to normal. Right before I opened my eyes, a pair of arms closed around me tightly. Elena had wrapped herself around me, leaning down awkwardly because she was so much taller than me, and it felt like she was starting to cry.

I froze at her close contact. Not because I thought I would hurt her, but out of shock.

"Thank you," she sobbed into my ear. Her voice was flooded with gratitude and relief.

Great. How am I supposed to hate the girl now? I sighed in defeat. I knew I couldn't. She may be annoying, she may have done some things to Damon that thoroughly pissed me off, but Elena was innately _good._ I could sense that about her in this moment as clearly as I could her heartbeat. I could hate Klaus for everything he had taken from me. I could even hate Katherine for all her evil ways. But I could not hate Elena.

I ignored the fact that she was probably snotting all in my hair and looked down at Damon. He was looked so ridiculously appealing it was a damn miracle I had been able to concentrate on kicking Katherine's ass at all. For a brief second, all I let myself focus on was Damon's still shirtless, muscular form. He must've realized my oogling, or felt the direction of my thoughts, because he began grinning impishly.

"You're welcome," I told Elena, forcing myself back to reality and trying to disguise the husky note in my voice. "You might want to take off though. Katherine will only be out for a few more minutes," I added after I cleared my throat.

Elena pulled back from me, straightening her posture and wiping away her tears. She nodded with a small smile and descended down the stairs to retrieve Stefan's car keys. After Elena left, I rolled Katherine's unconscious body downstairs with no more care than I would roll a beach ball.

"Well, that was…" Stefan said to me.

"Impressive? Amazing? Better than anything _**you**_ could have pulled off, brother?" Damon mused with a smirk.

"It was better than any trick I've seen up your sleeve, Damon," Stefan scoffed.

Damon balked with rankled pride, crossing his arms. "Hel-lo? The crow?"

"You're really gonna compare a crow to _**that**_?" Stefan snorted.

Damon seemed to reconsider his claim to victory for a moment. Finally he shrugged and winked at me.

"Good point," he conceded. "Now what are we gonna do with Katherine?"

Stefan furrowed his brow as he walked closer to her body. "What was she doing here anyway?" he wondered out loud.

"What is she always doing, Stefan? Making our lives miserable, that's what. I'm sure the point of this visit was no different," Damon replied, as if his answer was so obvious it was a waste of his breath to even say the words. He turned his eyes to me and looked me up and down, smiling at first, then playfully frowning.

"What's wrong?" the words were out of my mouth in a millisecond, eager to find the cause and the solution. I couldn't stand the sight of Damon frowning.

"I just liked the way you looked a little while ago better," he confessed as his fingers trailed over the sewn tear on my shirt, casuing my breathing to hitch.

"What? All furry and cat-fighty?" I teased him as he snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me tightly into his bare chest.

"No, silly. I was referring to you, divinely half-naked, on the kitchen counter," Damon said, wiggling his eyebrows and kissing my forehead. "Before we were so rudely intruded upon, that is," he added for Stefan's benefit.

"You do realize that the kitchen is not a private room of the house, Damon. It's a place to eat," Stefan told him as if he were explaining something to a small child.

"Oh, believe me, brother, I was getting there," Damon muttered and grinned devilishly. I nipped at his ear seductively, though the look on his face told me he wasn't at all surprised. He obviously knew what kind of mood I was in.

Stefan wrinkled his nose at Damon's innuendo. "Whatever. Look, can you at least limit your bedroom activities to… well, to your bedroom?"

"Sure thing, Buzz-Kill Bob. I'll get right on her-_**it**_- I mean _**it**_!" he said with a wink, grabbing my hand and tugging me upstairs.

"Damon! Katherine's gonna wake up any minute! There's not time for that now!" Stefan complained. Normally, I may have tried to do the responsible thing and side with Stefan on this, but Damon looked too tempting, so much so in fact that by the time we made it to the top of the stairs, I was the one tugging Damon.

Damon turned around to face his brother, pursing his lips. "Stefan, remember how you took off and left me to deal with Klaus? Alone?"

Stefan knew where this was going and he didn't like it. He remained silent and still, giving Damon no response.

Damon ignored his stoic expression and continued. "Yeah, I thought you might. Consider this payback. You get to deal with Katherine, _**alone**_," he said, his tone light and jovial, sounding as if he were giving Stefan a great present. "And besides, Katherine's always been more of your problem than mine. _'It was always Stefan,'_ and all that. Yeah…," Damon said, widening his eyes. "You have fun with that brother!"

Then he turned his blue eyes to mine. "You, on the other hand, are coming with me!"

I smirked back at him in response. "Where are we going?"

"My bedroom, of course. You heard Saint Stefan. No bedroom activities outside the bedroom. We wouldn't wanna risk another frown line on his already crowded forehead, now would we?"

I laughed as Stefan shook his head disdainfully. Right as Damon lifted me into his arms, Alaric walked in the front door.

"What are you doing home so early? Its only noon, Ric. How the hell are you keeping your damn job?" Damon groaned.

Ric smiled and shook his head at Damon's backhanded welcome home. "Early release. And since when are you worried about my employment?"

"Since your new work hours started cramping my style," Damon sniped back.

Ric ignored Damon as he saw Stefan and stopped warily when he noticed Katherine lying at the base of the stairs.

"What the hell happened here!" Alaric asked, his eyes immediately focusing on me.

**A/N Review please! Thank you for reading!**


	23. Chapter 23

_**Previously:**_

_Ric ignored Damon as he saw Stefan and stopped warily when he noticed Katherine lying at the base of the stairs._

_"What the hell happened here?" Alaric asked, immediately looking at Rhiannon._

**Chapter 23**

**Chapter Song: Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol**

_Get up, get out, get away from these liars,_

_'Cause they don't get your soul or your fire,_

_Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine,_

_And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time_

**3****rd**** POV**

After listening to Damon brief him on the story of what had just occurred, Alaric stared in awe at Rhiannon.

"You are a badass!" he complimented her.

Rhiannon beamed back in response, proud of her own handiwork.

"But you attacked Katherine before she grabbed Elena?" Ric asked her.

"Yeah… I tend to hold grudges," Rhi admitted unremorsefully as she straightened out her shirt.

"Did she do something to you?" asked Ric.

Rhiannon smiled at his question. No, Katherine had never done anything to _her_ specifically. But she had caused Damon so much pain that Rhiannon was unable to pretend like nothing had ever happened.

"No," Rhiannon said, as she turned to look at Damon, "but she would've been better off if she had wronged me instead."

Alaric watched as Damon smiled down at Rhi, and realized he had never seen Damon look so content. It was almost like Rhi had calmed his soul, and taken his hurt away. Their eyes stayed locked together for a long time, like they were in their own little world.

"This is nothing compared to what I walked in on in the kitchen earlier," Stefan said to Alaric.

"I think it's good for Damon, being in love. What do you think?" Ric asked him, referring to the two lovebirds.

"Well, I pissed him off earlier, but since he's calmed down, Damon doesn't seem quite the cantankerous ass that he normally is," Stefan said. "Although if I had that…"

Damon's eyes abruptly shifted to his brother's with a threatening glare.

"Nevermind," Stefan finally said.

Before anyone could say another word, Katherine shot up from the spot on the floor where she had been lying. Rhiannon took a deliberate step in front of Damon but tried to make it seem casual.

"What the fuck just happened?" Katherine shouted, her large eyes flickering between Damon and Rhiannon. Katherine knew she did not know the red haired girl standing in front of Damon, nor did she have any idea where the vicious cat had went.

"I think the more important question is, what are you doing here?" Damon offered.

"I'll get to that _after_ I find out who snapped my neck!"

"Oh, well that would be me," Rhiannon said as she smiled at Katherine angelically.

Katherine flashed over to her and wrapped her hand around Rhiannon's throat. "That was a very stupid move. Someone should've warned you about me," Katherine seethed.

Damon was about to defend Rhiannon but before he could intervene, Rhi had Katherine knocked back down to the floor with the wooden heel of her boot pressing into her chest. Rhiannon's green eyes were cracked over with veins and her fangs had fully descended. Ric couldn't help but stare in amazement at how someone so sweet could turn so lethal at a moment's notice. Damon felt like he would burst with pride as he saw Rhi manhandle Katherine.

"No, Katherine. _**That **_was a very stupid move. Someone should've warned you about _**me**_!" Rhiannon spat out through her bared fangs.

"Who are you?" Katherine asked.

"Do I really look like I feel like answering your questions right now?" Rhi seethed. "Why are you here?"

Katherine tried to move out from underneath the pressure of Rhiannon's foot, but when Rhiannon realized what she was doing, she dug her heel deeper into Katherine's chest, anchoring her still. Katherine winced at the discomfort as the wooden heel broke her skin.

"I suggest you answer me!" Rhi hissed.

"Rebekah found me!" Katherine's words rushed out as she gasped in pain. "Someone killed Klaus… and she's pissed. She thought it was me but when I told her I didn't kill him, she knew I was telling the truth!"

"So?" Damon asked in a bored tone, fighting a wince as he heard Rebekah's name. Rhi lifted her foot off of Katherine, who immediately distanced herself from her attacker.

"_So_, I know that one of you jackasses had something to do with killing him. Or at least know who did," Katherine said, throwing an accusatory glance at Rhiannon who was still in vamp mode.

Katherine had not missed how Rhiannon seemed to linger around Damon, almost in a protective stance.

_Well isn't that interesting, _Katherine thought maliciously.

"Oh, and Damon… Rebekah also wanted me to tell you hello. She said she has missed you," Katherine antagonized, smiling as the hurt crept across Rhiannon's face.

Damon wanted to kill Katherine himself. He had had sex with Rebekah on an impulse one night after Elena had hurt him. It was nothing more than sex to Damon, and it was before Rhi had come back to town, but he could not keep the guilt at bay. His guilt was answered back by an emotional hurt that he knew belonged to Rhiannon. She turned her head around to look at him for a moment, as if she didn't trust her mind, like she needed to confirm her suspicion by seeing the look on Damon's face for herself.

Damon looked at her watered eyes and wished more than anything he could deny what she already knew to be true.

_I'm sorry_, his mind told her helplessly.

_It… its okay, Damon_, Rhi said to him as she turned her attention back to Katherine.

Damon felt her trying to rein in her feelings in order to prevent him from hearing her thoughts. But before she succeeded, Damon saw what bothered her most of all.

Rebekah had played a part in Rhiannon's mother, Isolde's death. At Klaus's behest, she had been the one who compelled the guards to round up the druids so that they could be executed under the punishment of heresy. Rhiannon hated Rebekah nearly as much as she had hated Klaus.

_And now Rhi knows that I slept with her_, Damon thought to himself, silently regretting his formerly slutty ways.

Rhiannon pushed her hurt away and slowly sauntered towards Katherine, who in turn began backing towards the door. "You can tell _Rebekah_ that if she wants me, come get me!" she fumed. "You tell that bitch she had better bring her A-Game if she wants to wind up better than her brother did!" Of course, Rhi knew that if Rebekah was foolish enough to seek her out, she would wind up exactly like Klaus, but she didn't feel the need to explain this to Katherine.

_Who the hell is __**she**__? _Katherine wondered. _Oh well, I'm not sticking around this place any longer, waiting for that panther to come back._

The veins darkening outside of Rhiannon's green eyes gave them an eerie glow, and Katherine couldn't get out the front door fast enough.

Rhiannon closed her eyes tightly and struggled to calm herself. After a couple silent minutes passed she turned around to face Damon, Stefan, and Alaric. She inhaled deeply and felt her fangs retract and the last of the veins dissolve. Damon was by Rhi's side in an instant, his blue eyes intently focused on her as he tried to decipher the feelings she wasn't projecting to him.

"Rhi, I didn't know… I never would have done-" Damon began explaining, but Rhiannon silenced him with her mouth feverishly. Damon was briefly stunned by her intensity, but he recovered quickly and matched her enthusiasm. Their kiss grew more passionate with each passing second. He pushed her against the wall, and Rhi responded by groaning into his open mouth and wrapping her legs around his waist for support. Damon's mouth left a trail of wet kisses down her neck, and through her heavy-lidded eyes Rhiannon caught a glimpse of their audience across the room.

Damon felt the wave of her embarrassment, and let out an annoyed groan. "Nobody likes a lurker," he said without turning his attention away from Rhi.

"Yeah… I'm gonna go catch up with Elena," Stefan announced awkwardly, as he suddenly began shuffling towards the door.

"I'm gonna take off, too. Papers to grade and what not," Alaric replied, following in Stefan's footsteps. "I'll give you a ride."

"I think we found a way to have some alone time after all," Rhiannon purred into Damon's ear once they were alone.

"Intrusive bastards," Damon muttered in a husky voice as he picked her up in his sinewy arms. "We're going upstairs and locking the damn door _before _the rest of Mystic Falls decides to pay us a visit."

**A/N Hope you enjoyed it! I will update soon.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N Sorry its been so long since an update. I got blocked =/ This is picking back up with Damon and Rhiannon, two days after the Katherine fiasco. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 24**

**Chapter Song: Everything by Lifehouse**

**3****rd**** POV**

After Rhiannon's showdown with Katherine, Stefan had politely stayed over at Alaric's apartment for a couple days in an attempt to give Damon and Rhi some time together without any interruptions. And with this gift of privacy, they had enjoyed one another on nearly every flat surface in his bedroom, at least twice. It was late in the afternoon, and Damon was propped up on pillows, slurping on a blood bag like it was a juice box and deep in thought. Rhi was leaning against his chest, sipping on a cup of hot tea that Damon had made for her.

"You put milk in my tea for me," she noticed with a smile, clearly impressed.

"I remembered," he murmured into her hair as he interlaced his fingers with hers, twisting the Claddagh ring on her finger.

"Good job."

"Do I get brownie points?" Damon asked her inquisitively.

"Since when do you need them with me?" Rhi laughed.

"This is true," he conceded after a moment's consideration. "Though it never hurts to have any saved up."

"Fine. You get brownie points, Damon."

"Yes!" Damon shouted, full of mock enthusiasm.

"Now, I hope this doesn't give you any inclination to do something you'll need to cash them in for…" she playfully chided him.

"And risk the wrath of the big bad kitten? What are you, crazy? No thanks, you've scared me straight into a life of pledged obedience."

"Scared?" Rhi teased back. "You didn't look so scared a little while ago."

Damon shook his head at her with complete amusement and placed her empty tea cup on his nightstand along with the empty blood bag. "I'm not even gonna dignify that with an answer," he told her, changing positions so that his head was now in her lap, facing up to look at her. Sometimes, even after as much time as he had spent with her in these past few days, the sight of her still tried to take his breath away. Damon felt the air catch in the back of his throat. Rhi's long smooth red hair cascaded all around her shoulders, and her lips still a little swollen from being over-kissed. A wide dimpled grin stretched across her face as she stared down at him as she combed her fingers through his tousled dark hair.

_God, she is so beautiful_, he thought to himself.

"Thank you," Rhi answered his unspoken thought.

"You're most welcome, my little mind reader."

"Hey, I can't help what I hear. Try thinking more quietly."

"There's no thinking quietly about _**this**_," Damon said as he took her face into his hands. "I mean, have you seen it?"

_I've seen better_, she projected back to him as she leaned down to kiss him softly on the lips.

Rhi teased him by tugging lightly on his lower lip, and Damon seized the opportunity to flip her on her back. He pinned her down and whispered in her ear seductively, "Haven't you had enough of that today?"

"Oh, I could never have enough of _you_," she giggled as his breath tickled her ear, and trailed her fingers down his abdomen. Then she sighed teasingly. "But, I suppose I should let you rest."

"Thank you for granting me a reprieve," Damon joked, as he rolled off of her to pick up his cell phone. He looked at the time, and slightly frowned.

"What's wrong?" Rhi asked him instantly.

"Oh, its nothing. Just this errand that I promised Stefan I would run for him before it got too late today," Damon said as he began dressing himself, causing Rhiannon to only frown deeper.

"What is it that you have to do?" she asked as she tried to keep herself from pouting.

"Just a couple things. I'll be back in no time."

"I'll go with you," she said quickly as she began to stand up. Damon's firm hands on her shoulders held her in place.

"You stay here. I'll be back within a couple hours - max. Besides, you'd be bored out of your mind anyway. Anything to do with Stefan is always boring," he assured her.

Rhi's face fell slightly at the thought of being separated from him. Confusion swam through her mind, enough of it that Damon could sense it. He locked down on his own thoughts to keep them from her, and moved his strong hands from her shoulders to the side of her face.

"Hey… I'll be right back! Now pull that bottom lip up off the floor. You don't want to trip me, do you?" he teased.

Rhi's green eyes focused on his, and for a moment, Damon worried that she had seen through his efforts.

She found it beyond strange that Damon was trying to keep what he was doing and where he was going a secret from her. It was out of character for him, unless of course, Damon was up to something. Rhi's mind immediately recalled the most recent incident, where he had snuck off to meet Elijah, and found Klaus waiting for him instead. Then, her mind flickered to the latest threat.

Rebekah.

Rhi wasn't intimidated by Rebekah in the slightest. In fact she almost welcomed the thought of kicking her ass, in addition to Katherine's. But Rhiannon knew Damon, and she knew him well. It would be just like Damon to get all over-protective, go run off to threaten Rebekah to leave her alone, and nearly get himself killed in the process. Rhi fought off a flinch at the thought of _her _harming Damon. She wanted Damon no where near Rebekah ever again. Rhiannon felt her muscles grow rigid as she came to the conclusion of what she knew Damon was really up to.

Damon felt Rhi's body tense and watched as her green eyes darken a shade or two. He couldn't yet tell what she was thinking, and as much as he wanted to comfort her, he knew if he had any prayer in leaving, now was the time to do it.

Damon straightened himself, buttoned his last button on his shirt and backed away towards the door, avoiding her glare the entire way.

"Like I said, I'll be back before you know it," he said quickly, as he reached for the doorknob behind him.

Damon had just barely opened the door, when abruptly he felt a sharp gust of wind and the door was slammed shut. He blinked and saw Rhi, completely naked standing in front of him.

"I don't think so. You aren't going anywhere without me," she said firmly.

"But Rhi-" Damon protested, slightly confused. He knew that she didn't want him to leave without her, but her actions were bordering on the extreme side. He dug deep in the realms of his mind, grasping to obtain a glimpse of Rhiannon's thoughts as he stared into her eyes. He sighed in defeat when he realized that her thoughts seemed to be on a tighter lockdown than his.

"You're transparent when you're evading," she told him simply.

"And you're incredibly sexy when you're bossy. And naked, might I add," he smirked with a wink. But he noticed that she still looked as determined as ever.

Then Damon remembered something that always seemed to get to her, something that would bring her walls down when nothing else would.

Damon lowered his face to Rhiannon's, his intense blue eyes bearing down on her, relentlessly assaulting her willpower.

"I love you," he whispered breathlessly against her lips before he kissed her.

Something inside Rhi faltered, and it was then that Damon saw what she was feeling.

Suspicion, with a tinge of jealousy. Over Rebekah, no less.

Rhiannon thought that Damon was making up some excuse to see Rebekah. He barely contained his laughter at the ridiculousness of it all. After everything they had been through, all her words of wisdom about their relationship and the depths of their feelings, and here Rhiannon was, just as jealous as he had been this morning when he found her in the kitchen with Ric. Damon knew her contempt for Rebekah stemmed way deeper than just a jealousy issue, as it had originated with the killing of her mother. And of course, Rhiannon learning that Damon had slept with Rebekah hadn't exactly eased any of the tension.

Damon silently wondered if all of his past transgressions would ever stop coming back to bite him in the ass. He kissed her deeply once more for emphasis.

"Kitten, I promise you. What I'm doing has nothing-_**nothing-**_to do with Rebekah," he told her as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Really?"

"Really," Damon answered automatically. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her climb back into bed and settle underneath the sheets. Then she leaned over to retrieve her cell phone off of his nightstand, flipping it over and over again in her small hands. Something about the action made Damon a little uneasy.

"So, if I were to call Stefan, he would know exactly what sort of mystery errand you're doing for him, right?" Rhi asked as she studied him closely.

Damon's eyes widened slightly in shock, and even though he quickly recovered, they both knew that Rhiannon had just called his bluff.

"I'll take that as a 'no,' then. Honestly, Damon, do you really think it would be that easy?" Rhi asked him. She was almost amused as she watched his shoulders slump in frustrated defeat. Damon startled her a little when he blurred over to sit beside her on the bed.

"Just this once, I wish you _would_ let it be that easy," he told her softly.

"What are you keeping from me Damon? Why? And what could be so important that you have to leave now?"

Damon inhaled, then exhaled slowly. "You will find out soon enough. But I do have somewhere I need to be," he said as he looked again at the time.

6:07.

"Besides, you really should think about getting dressed. I don't want anyone else seeing you so… indecent," he smirked and wagged his eyebrows at her.

"How would anyone see me in here? I'm not going anywhere!" she argued.

"Oh, but you are! We have plans tonight, I forgot to tell you."

"Where are we going, Damon?" Rhi asked him, her voice dripping with skepticism.

"To the Grill. Its Stefan's birthday," he replied, matter-of-factly.

A look of surprise crossed Rhi's face when she realized Damon was actually being serious.

"I don't have anything to wear here, I'll have to go to Leamineagh and get-"

"Nope. That's all been taken care of," Damon said as he gestured to the mahogany armoire in the far corner of his room. Rhi followed his gaze, but was still confused. She knew that Damon had been with her every second of the past three days, and that he could not have possibly retrieved any of her things from Leamineagh without her knowing.

"Enough with the furrowed brow. Just go look," he told her with mock annoyance.

Rhiannon slowly raised herself out of bed and crossed the room to reach the armoire. When she opened its door, she gasped. It was packed with clothes - new clothes - accompanied by outrageously expensive price tags. Designer jeans, shirts, and even a few dresses. She was suddenly aware that Damon was standing beside her now and watching her intently, grinning.

"Damon… this is… you didn't have to do this. But thank you!" Rhi said as she raised herself to kiss him. "When did you get all of this, anyway?"

"I ordered it online and had it overnighted a few days ago. Its not like this is the first time I've given you something," Damon told her as he eyed her ring. "And it won't be the last time, either," he added with a kiss. "There's more stuff for you in the bathroom cabinet. And if you need hair product, I'm sure Stefan can help you out."

"If you've had all these clothes for me, why didn't you tell me?"

"Let's just say that I prefer you, minus clothes," he grinned back at her impishly and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Rhiannon responded by kissing him, softly at first, but then began turning more passionate by the second.

"If you keep this up," Damon whispered to her in between her fervent kisses, "I won't be able to run my errand."

"That's what I'm counting on," Rhi purred into his ear.

They were interrupted by the familiar sound of Ric's Suburban pulling into the driveway. Damon groaned as he looked out his window.

_Well, he managed to stay away for two whole days. That's gotta be a record for him_, Damon mused to himself as he heard the front door open and close.

Rhi grinned widely when she realized Ric was there. It did not go unnoticed by Damon.

"What's with the smile?" he wondered aloud.

"Oh, nothing! I just have a favor to ask Ric, that's all."

"Like you are now? I'm sure he'd do anything you asked him," Damon teased, silently contemplating what favor she wanted from Alaric.

Rhi rolled her eyes at him playfully as she grabbed a pair of jeans and tank top out of the armoire and shrugged them on. When she was finished dressing, she made her way to the parlor downstairs, with Damon hot on her heels. There Alaric was, kicked back on the couch with his hands folded behind his head.

"Ric, I need a favor from you," Rhi announced as she entered the room.

Ric jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, and quickly straightened himself and stood up. "What do you need, Rhi?"

She beamed at the friendly tone in his voice, knowing that he would help her out. "Well Damon won't tell me where he's going or what he's doing. I would very much appreciate if you would go along with him and make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her, and Rhi folded her arms stubbornly across her chest as she stared back at him. Then they began a conversation in their minds.

_Unbelievable_, Damon thought.

_Its not that unbelievable, now is it, Damon?_

_No, I suppose not. I should've suspected you would think of sending him to spy on me. By the way, do you have any idea how alluring you look right now?_

_Nice try, but no more brownie points, Damon._

_Well in that case, can I cash in the ones I earned earlier to get out of taking Ric with me?_

_Not a chance._

Ric broke up their silent exchanges.

"Sure, Rhi," he agreed obligingly. Then turning his attention to Damon, he continued. "We should probably get whatever it is over with, then. We're supposed to all meet up at the Grill at 8."

"Yes, Ric, I know. I'm the one who organized this little soiree in the first place, remember?" Damon replied sarcastically. "As for you, Spy Commander, please behave yourself while I'm gone and have yourself ready by the time I get back."

"I think I can handle that," she kissed him, then winked before heading upstairs.

Damon watched as Rhiannon disappeared up the stairs, and shook his head in amusement at all her crafty efforts. He cranked the engine to his Camaro, revving the engine impatiently as he waited for Ric to get in the car.

"So what are you up to anyway, Damon?" Alaric asked his friend as he slammed the car door.

"That, Teach, is for me to know, and for you to dot, dot, dot."

**A/N You all will find out what Damon is up to soon enough! Hope you enjoyed it, please review if you did! =) Thanks for reading! I promise you won't have to wait as long for the next update!**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N Sorry I have went so long (again) without updating. I wasn't blocked this time, but I got completely wrapped up in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, and between those books and real life, I didn't have much time for anything else. **

**(I do, by the way, wholeheartedly recommend the books!)**

**So here we are again, picking back up where we left off… Damon being secretive about what he's up to, Rhiannon being suspicious but opting to send Alaric along with him to tag along, and Stefan's impending birthday party at the Grill. Enjoy!**

_**Previously:**_

_Damon watched as Rhiannon disappeared up the stairs, and shook his head in amusement at all her crafty efforts. He cranked the engine to his Camaro, revving the engine impatiently as he waited for Ric to get in the car._

"_So what are you up to anyway, Damon?" Alaric asked his friend as he slammed the car door._

"_That, Teach, is for me to know, and for you to dot, dot, dot."_

**Chapter 25**

**Chapter Song: Called Out In The Dark by Snow Patrol**

**3****rd**** POV**

Alaric rolled his eyes. Damon had been driving for a total of fifteen minutes and he still gave no clues as to what he was up to. Ric silently cursed, wishing in part that he had kept his ass at his apartment and taken a much needed nap, but alas, Stefan had taken over. Stefan snored louder than any man or animal Ric had ever come across. In these past two days, Ric had barely managed to get any rest at all thanks to the youngest Salvatore.

Ric had been hoping to sneak over to the Boarding House and have himself a quick nap before the party began. Thinking he had slipped in unnoticed, Ric had just settled himself on the couch in the parlor when Rhi's musical voice interrupted his sleep, asking him for a favor.

To Ric, there was a very short list of things he would not do for Rhiannon. Hell, if it hadn't been for her, Klaus would still be a threat to all of them. Alaric held Rhi in the highest regard. He knew that she was selfless and brave, both were qualities that he also admired in Damon. But unlike Damon, Rhi had tact and manners.

Ric wondered about Damon's intentions and why he wanted to keep Rhiannon oblivious to them. His mind flickered to Katherine's warning about Rebekah, and found himself worrying about Damon's intentions. It was entirely plausible that Damon was seeking out Rebekah, which he would attempt to keep from Rhi, which would predictably cause her to be suspicious. Ric remembered Rhiannon's reaction to just hearing Rebekah's name when Katherine mentioned her two days ago, and winced. Surely Damon had more sense than that.

And though he knew the purpose of Rhiannon's request was a little pointless, Ric did not deny her favor.

Damon turned off the main road, and Ric stifled a snort. The thought of him keeping Damon out of trouble was damn hilarious. If Damon was looking for trouble, it was inevitable that he would soon find it. But as Ric studied his friend's profile across from him, he could find no tension in his jaw, and no darkness in his eyes. It certainly didn't seem like Damon was up to no good, but then again, this _is_ Damon.

"You're seriously not gonna tell me what we're doing?" Ric asked, frustrated at being shrouded in secrecy for going on twenty minutes.

"_**We're**_ not doing anything. _**My **_business is just that - _**my business. **_You, on the other hand, have been sent on a covert ops mission by the original black panther. I have no desire to clue you in on anything, Ric. Did you really think I was just gonna purge everything to you? Risk foiling my diabolical master plan? Yeah, no," Damon replied with an amused but snarky grin. Secretly, he wanted to confide in Alaric about what he was doing, but he decided it ultimately.

_He'll know soon enough_, Damon thought to himself.

"Whatever. Just hurry the hell up, will you? We only have about an hour left before we're supposed to meet at the Grill," Ric said, his voice laced with mild annoyance. He rested his head back on the seat and pretended to be completely disinterested in their surroundings. Ric surveyed their location carefully through squinted eyes, but drew a huge blank. What the hell was Damon doing in the middle of nowhere? There was nothing but forest for miles ahead of them. But even his curiosity was not enough to keep Ric awake. The warm breeze blowing in through the windows, the hum of the engine, and the rhythmic bouncing as the car traveled down the old dirt road eventually won out, and Alaric was fast asleep.

Damon breathed a small sigh of relief when he noticed his friend was out like a light. Ric was usually more of a day-drinker than a day-sleeper, but Damon guessed that Stefan had kept him awake with his incessant snoring. Damon thought briefly that he should've warned Ric ahead of time to find himself a good set of ear plugs, but quickly waved the thought away.

_Both of them are always being pains in the asses to me, let them annoy the hell out of each other for a change_, Damon smirked to himself.

Spying his destination, Damon eased the Camaro to a slow stop, carefully shoved the shifter into park, taking great effort not to wake Alaric. He stared at him for a moment, watching his slow, steady breathing. He decided that Ric was in a good sleep, and that his plan was safe from being discovered.

Damon eased himself out of the car, not even bothering to shut the car door behind him. He walked through the tall grass, and the miscellaneous flora. All he could think of was Rhi, and he couldn't keep himself from smiling like a fool.

His thoughts skimmed over everything about the gorgeous redhead that had completely and permanently altered his life… twice. He had fallen in love with her in 1860, and then fell in love with her all over again last week, even before Rowan had given his memory back to him.

Damon reached the tree line, and continued to think of Rhiannon as he stepped in between two oak trees. Her soft skin, the deep red shade of her hair that perfectly matched her when she was furious, the depths of those sparkling green eyes that spoke to him even when her mouth or mind did not. The laughter that they shared, and the pleasure he took in the fact that she actually understood him on a level that no one else, not even Stefan did. Her fierce loyalty and need to protect him above all else. The sound of her voice, the way she looked at him, even better the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't looking. The soothing contentment that she brought to his soul, just by being with him.

Damon stepped into the familiar clearing, his mind fading back to reminisce about a memory that he and Rhiannon had shared from long ago, and took a deep breath.

_**Back at the Boarding House…**_

Rhiannon sat alone in the parlor, glaring at the clock on the mantle above the fireplace.

7:27.

Her green eyes were ablaze with anger and suspicion, and she shifted her gaze from the clock to the cell phone on her lap. Rhi knew that Stefan's party was set to begin at eight, and Damon and Alaric had been gone for more than an hour. No innocent errand ever took that long in Mystic Falls. An unwelcome vision of Damon and Rebekah wrapped in each other's arms crept into her mind and she felt every muscle in her body grow rigid. Rhi inhaled deeply through her nose, and expelled through her mouth, trying to rid herself of the disturbing image and get a grip on her emotions.

_Ric is with him_, she told herself._ And Damon swore to me that whatever shenanigans he's up to now, Rebekah had nothing to do with it. He wouldn't do that to me._

As if she were weighted down by the flood of all her emotions, Rhi heaved herself up off the couch with a little more effort than usual. She walked into the hallway, and she stood before the full length mirror to examine as well as distract herself for a minute. Her eyes were rimmed with dark grey eyeshadow that set off their color beautifully. She smoothed out her shiny hair out around her shoulders, and ran her hands down the front of the midnight colored, blackish-blue dress that Damon had bought for her. The long sleeved, shimmery dress hugged every inch of her, and though the neckline barely dipped below her clavicle, her entire back was left exposed, all the way down to the beginning of her tailbone. Rhi absentmindedly fidgeted with the hem of the dress that just barely touched the middle of her thighs, and wondered briefly if Damon had bought this dress online thinking it was actually black, instead of black with a bluish undertone.

She sighed impatiently, and marched herself back into the parlor to retrieve her cell phone, the clacking sound of her platform heels against the wood floor echoing her frustration.

Rhiannon called Damon but it went straight to his voicemail. Brimming with irritation, she hit the 'end' button with more force than was necessary and then dialed Alaric.

"Hey Rhi," Ric greeted her, and she noticed that his voice was husky with sleep.

"What's going on, Ric? Where are you?" Rhi blurted out, sweetly but impatiently.

Ric sat up and straightened himself out as best he could in the cramped quarters of Damon's Camaro. He noticed Damon's absence, and winced at the thought of telling Rhi that he was out of sight. He glanced around at his surroundings and cleared his throat sharply in an attempt to sound more awake.

"We're stopped. In the middle of damn no where," Ric said, purposely omitting the detail that Damon was not exactly with him.

"Is Damon there with you?"

_Shit_, Ric thought inwardly.

"No, but he's not far," Ric said, knowing it had to be true as he looked at the time.

Rhi took another deep breath, and told herself that everything was more than likely fine. After all, she knew Damon didn't want Alaric to tag along with him on this so-called _errand_ anyway, so it wasn't such a surprise that he managed to sneak off away from him somehow.

"Okay, Ric. Its alright, just tell me how to get to where you are."

"Well, I haven't seen any buildings for close to ten miles. We're parked on a clay dirt road. Nothing around but grass and trees."

Rhi fought back a troubled groan. With that kind of vague description, they could be any number of places outside the city limits. She needed something more specific than that.

"Look around, Ric. Is there anything, anything at all that stands out?"

Ric looked around again, wishing he had something to tell her. Truly, there was nothing but grass and trees. Nothing else, unless you counted the purple-flowered vines that clung to the oak trees in the distance.

"No, Rhi. Nothing," Ric muttered regrettably. "Like I said, just grass and trees covered with purpley flowers on their trunks."

_Purple flowers on tree trunks? That sounds a lot like Nightshade_, Rhi mused to herself.

"Are they Nightshade flowers, Ric?" she questioned eagerly, knowing that there had only ever been one place in the area where she knew this particular plant bloomed.

"Rhi, look. I teach history, not horticulture," Ric told her carefully, his voice void of any offensive tone.

"The flowers… are they attached to the tree by a vine?" she continued.

"Yeah, I guess, I mean from what I can tell. Why is it important?"

"_Why is _**what** _important?" _a snarky voice interrupted the conversation.

Rhi breathed a sigh of relief, relaxed and sank back down into the couch. Ric jumped at the sound of Damon's voice, and quickly scrambled up something to tell him.

"Err… its Rhi. She wants to know where you were," Ric managed to articulate.

Damon's icy blue eyes narrowed on Ric, knowing damn well he had just been handed a crap-ass reply. He plucked the cell phone from Ric's hand and pressed it to his own ear.

"Kitten," Damon greeted her.

"Damon," she mirrored his tone perfectly.

"I'll be back in just a few minutes. Are you ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready."

"What are you wearing?" Damon asked her, suggestively dropping his voice a couple octaves. Ric shook his head and tried to focus on counting the trees that they were blurring past rather than gain any more insight into what went on inside the dark corners of Damon's mind.

"The midnight blue dress. You know, the one that it seems someone forgot to sew the back onto it?" Rhi teased him.

"Oh, I know just the one… And I'm glad you wore that one. See you in a couple minutes."

And with that the call ended.

Damon eyed Alaric suspiciously, wondering what he had said to Rhiannon before he came back. But Damon knew that there had been nothing special or indicative about that place, not anymore at least. For all Alaric or Rhi knew, he could have been doing any number of things. The knowledge that his plan had succeeded, even despite Rhi's craftiness and Ric's nosiness, brought a duplicitous smile to his face as he whipped his Camaro into the driveway of the Boarding House.

Rhi was so engrossed in her own thoughts, she hardly registered the sound of car doors closing. She was too busy thinking about Nightshade, more specifically, the only place that she knew it to grow around Mystic Falls.

A small section of land that she had not set foot on in over 150 years.

The grounds of the Salvatore Estate.

_But what would Damon be doing there? _she wondered.

**A/N Sorry I didn't come clean with the mystery in this chapter. I really thought it was more obvious, but a lot of readers are in the dark, so I couldn't help but drag it out for at least another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N Okay so besides from real life getting in the way of my writing, fangirling about 3:19 with LittleStrawberryLove (aka my favorite co-fangirler) took up a little time, too. XD Here's the new chapter, hope you like it!**

_Previously:_

_Rhi was so engrossed in her own thoughts, she hardly registered the sound of car doors closing. She was too busy thinking about nightshade, more specifically, the only place that she knew it to grow around Mystic Falls. _

_A small section of land that she had not set foot on in over 150 years. _

_The grounds of the Salvatore Estate._

_But what would Damon be doing there? she wondered._

**Chapter 26**

**Chapter Song: Hero/Heroine by Boys Like Girls**

**3****rd**** POV**

Leaving Ric waiting outside, Damon walked into the parlor of the Boarding House, and paused when he saw Rhiannon, sitting on the couch with her back to him. Despite her calm tone on the phone, he had still half-way expected Rhi to be waiting at the door for him, with her claws fully extended, but instead, she was still and so deep in thought she seemed oblivious to his arrival. Damon studied her tense posture, noting that her back was ramrod straight, but her breathing was slow and even.

_Odd_, Damon thought to himself, his curiosity and concern prompting him to see what she was thinking. All he could sense coming from Rhi was confusion.

His dark eyebrows knitted together, as he leaned against the wall and his blue eyes unfocused. Guilt nipped at Damon, as he knew his mystery errand was the cause of her confusion. But he knew that he couldn't have been honest with her about his true intentions.

Rhi raised herself lithely from the couch, turning around to see Damon staring off into oblivion. Something was off about his expression, and it worried her.

"Damon?" she asked softly.

Damon's head snapped up at the sound of Rhi's voice, his expression changing as he took in the full sight of her. Rhiannon's long red hair fell to her hips and her big emerald green eyes looked larger than usual rimmed and outlined with makeup. The last remaining rays of the setting sun poured through the windows, glancing off the shimmery dress and casting lighted reflections all around her. He wanted to tell her how gorgeous she looked, but his words seemed to be evading him.

"Wow!" Damon finally managed to breathe. He closed the distance between them and pulled Rhiannon into his arms, running his hands over the bare skin of her back that the dress left exposed. Unable to restrain himself, Damon appraised her once again and he marveled at the sight of her. The blackish blue colored dress looked even better on her than he had imagined.

"Nice dress," he murmured against her lips, grinning at his own understatement.

Rhi smiled widely at his compliment, and as she looked into Damon's baby blue eyes, she forget all about her worries. She smiled even wider as she heard the barrage of unspoken compliments coming from his mind, as he desperately searched for the right adjective.

"Thanks. My boyfriend thought so," she quipped.

Damon barely managed to keep himself from wincing at the generic term. He leaned down and kissed her softly, taking her bottom lip between his teeth and tugging before he pulled his face back to look at her.

"Smart man, this _boyfriend_ of yours," Damon grinned devilishly. "Hope he's not jealous."

Her hands moved up his chest, tracing the outline of his muscles, causing him to tense and inhale. Rhiannon giggled.

"Oh, he is. Terribly jealous, actually. He'll be back any minute, you probably should leave," she said playfully, her eyes bright with amusement.

"Not a chance in hell," Damon said in a husky growl. His hands found the bottom of her thighs and picked her up. At lightning speed, he blurred over to the closest wall, and pinned Rhiannon against it. With the wall supporting her back, Rhi wrapped her legs around Damon's waist and her arms around his neck. She locked her ankles together and pulled him closer to her, causing him to moan into her mouth in response. His hands roamed over her body impatiently, unable to decide what part of her he wanted to touch the most.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" Damon whispered to her huskily.

"I think I have an idea," Rhi murmured in between his kisses. "I love you more than anything."

"Ditto," he breathed back before finding her mouth again.

The two of them were so entirely wrapped up in each other and the intensity of their kiss that they didn't notice that Alaric had come inside. After a more than a few heated seconds passed, Ric cleared his throat awkwardly.

Damon whipped his head around to see Ric standing in the hallway with a look on his face that was somehow embarrassed, impatient, and apologetic all at once. Rhi quickly unhooked her legs from Damon and slide herself down the wall, straightening her dress and running her fingers through her hair to smooth it.

"Are you incapable of _**knocking**_?" Damon sneered, unable to keep the bite out of his voice as he recalled all the unwelcome interruptions over the past several days. Honestly, it was beginning to get ridiculous.

"We're gonna be late," Ric announced, ignoring Damon's smart ass remark. "The party starts in 20 minutes. We'll be lucky if we can find a decent parking spot. All the parallel parking in front of the Grill will be taken, we'll probably get stuck parking down by City Hall. I fully intend on getting drunk tonight, and walking all that way is gonna be a bitch! And if I hadn't had to go keep an eye on you, I would have already…" Ric trailed off as he saw Rhiannon in full view for the first time.

Damon had tuned Ric out soon after he began his rant. He hated being interrupted at all, but he especially hated having his time with Rhi intruded upon. Of course, he knew they had somewhere to be, and he knew Ric was right to remind him of that. Damon knew this, but in this particular moment in time, he didn't care. He rolled his eyes as Ric's nagging continued, and took a step toward the bourbon decanter. He noticed Ric's voice stop, and breathed a sigh of relief.

_God, I though he was never gonna shut the hell up. He's obviously spent way too much time around Stefan in the past couple days_, Damon thought as he reached for the decanter.

"You look… amazing, Rhi," Damon heard Ric say. Ignoring the bourbon, he glared at Ric meaningfully. Damon was still disgruntled over the interruption, however necessary it may have been. When Ric didn't bother to look up to meet his gaze, Damon's jaw clenched involuntarily.

Sensing the jealousy that was plaguing Damon, Rhiannon walked over to him, and slowly began rubbing circles between his shoulder blades in an effort to calm him.

"Yes, she does look amazing. Thanks for noticing, Ric," Damon said in a clipped tone.

Ric looked at Damon quizzically for a moment, wondering why his friend now seemed angrier. Then the realization of his offence set in.

"Hey, relax! I didn't mean anything by it! She looks great, anyone can see that!" Ric defended himself.

_Damon, he really didn't mean anything by it. He was paying me a compliment - that's all, _Rhiannon's thoughts invaded Damon's mind.

Damon sighed heavily. He was still annoyed, but mostly with himself. He knew Rhiannon was right. Out of every guy he knew, Alaric was probably the most trustworthy. Damon turned his head to look down at Rhi, who was smiling softly back at him.

_You're right, Kitten. That boyfriend of yours is one jealous son of a bitch,_ he projected to her.

_He is, but I love him anyway_,Rhi reassured him as she noticed a playful gleam return to his eyes.

_This is all your fault, you know. If you didn't look so damn tempting in that dress, I wouldn't have acted like an ass to my friend. Again_, Damon teased her.

_Oh, really? Well, wouldn't the fault be yours? After all, it was YOU who bought the dress_, she reminded him.

_True, but it didn't look nearly this good on the hanger,_ Damon thought with a smile and a wink.

Ric watched the two of them as they smiled at one another, staring into each other's eyes. He guessed that they were having one of their silent conversations with themselves, and he felt like an unwelcome intruder for the second time in the last five minutes. Regardless of how late they were going to be, Ric was hesitant to interrupt them again. Then he saw Damon smile, and found the courage.

"Are we good now?" Ric said to Damon.

Damon's eyes lingered on Rhiannon a moment before he finally looked back to Ric and nodded. He smiled a crooked grin, and ran his hand through his dark hair.

"Yeah, we're good. Sorry for freaking out on and going all '_jealous boyfriend_' on you. I'm gonna change really quick, I'll be right back," Damon said before blurring upstairs, not even to bother noticing the shocked look on Ric's face as he left the room.

At that time, Damon was too focused on other important things to worry about anything trivial. As soon as he rounded the corner into his bedroom, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and fired off a rapid text message.

_Is it done?_

Before Damon had finished taking his shirt off, the reply came.

_Oh, thanks for the birthday wishes, brother. Appreciate it. _

Damon rolled his eyes, and swiftly typed another message.

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY. IS IT DONE?_

Damon huffed as he buttoned his clean pair of jeans and tried to clear the frustration out of his mind before Rhiannon could sense it. He paused for a moment and listened to the voices downstairs, smiling at the contentment in his mind that had taken place of the jealousy from moments before. Damon loved Rhi immensely, and he even loved Alaric, in his own, very different way, so it only made things easier that the two of them got along so well with each other.

Damon snatched his vibrating phone off his dresser, overly-anxious to see Stefan's reply.

_Yes, its done. Did everything you asked. Still don't understand what you're up to, but I know you wouldn't tell me anyway. No one ever figures out your diabolical plans until you want them to. Its annoying. Anyway, I gotta go. Elena and I are having a quiet dinner at the Grill. Later._

Damon sighed with relief, nearly snickering at his brother's cluelessness. He knew Stefan was gullible and easily fooled. Rhi, on the other hand, was extremely hard to surprise. And today, Damon was thrilled that he was managing to pull a fast one on both of them.

_A real coup_, he thought to himself, without projecting.

Now dressed, he carefully picked up the item that he had retrieved from the ruins of his old home. Damon breathed slowly as he admired its details, twirling it around between his fingers before shoving it deep inside his pocket.

_**Meanwhile downstairs…..**_

Ric's eyes widened exponentially as his mind continued to replay Damon's words.

_Damon apologized? What the hell? Since when does that happen? _Ric thought to himself, and suddenly he looked over at Rhiannon.

He knew that she was the reason. There was something about Rhi that calmed Damon. She amplified his good qualities, and managed to suppress his bad ones.

"You're good for him, you know," Ric told her quietly.

Rhiannon beamed back at him. A compliment of this nature meant more to her than any commentary on her appearance.

"Thank you, Ric. I'm certainly glad you think so."

"I don't just think it - I know, Rhi. I see it all over his face whenever he looks at you. Damon is a changed man."

"_You do realize I can hear you, right?" _Damon's amused voice bellowed from upstairs.

Ric laughed, and decided to add something else for Damon's benefit. "You know Rhi, I think you might be part saint in addition to being a druid/vampire. I mean, anyone who can put up with that asshole has got to be a saint!"

Rhi smiled at Ric's good-natured teasing, and looked to see Damon arriving at the base of the staircase, buttoning the last of the buttons on his powder blue dress shirt. She was momentarily distracted when she met his eyes and noticed that the color of his shirt perfectly set off the hue of his eyes. She was even more distracted when she noticed how the fresh pair of dark wash jeans he wore seemed to have been tailor made for him, contouring over every line of him perfectly. Damon grinned back at her impishly, delighted at her ogling. Finished with the buttons, he rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, then bent to kiss her forehead in a manner that was sweet and seductive at the same time.

"There's a thin line between saints and sinners sometimes, Ric. I mean, sure Rhiannon has the patience of a saint to put up with me. But take for instance that scene you walked in on a few minutes ago… That seemed more like sinner territory to me, don't you think?" Damon joked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"Yeah, I'm not going there," Ric said to him. "We really do need to leave. Like now."

"Are we all going in one car?" Rhi asked them as she followed Alaric out the front door.

"We can take mine. Go ahead, I'll be right out," Damon said as he quickly walked back inside.

Ric and Rhi were both sitting in the Camaro when they spied Damon walking at a brisk pace, with an enormous white stuffed bunny that was nearly as large as he was. The two of them looked at each other to exchange a bewildered glance, as Damon struggled to stuff the bunny into the trunk of the car.

"What?" Damon asked as he sat down in the driver's seat.

"What's with the bunny?" Ric asked him.

"Well, its for Stefan, _**obviously**_," Damon replied with a smirk as he cranked the car.

As Damon checked the rear view mirror to back out of the driveway, he saw that his reflection was grinning ear to ear. He knew the look was more than a little unnatural for him, and just as he told himself no one would notice, Damon spied Ric staring at him suspiciously from the passenger seat with his eyebrow raised.

Damon shrugged, and wrapped his right arm around Rhiannon who was seated next to him. He took a deep breath, savoring the smell of jasmine that was all around him, and tried to smother down the satisfaction that was swelling inside of him. But Damon was beginning to understand it was useless to fight, because after all these years, he was _finally _going to ask Rhiannon to be his wife.

He looked over at Rhi to see her bright green eyes staring back at him curiously. Damon knew that she was undoubtedly picking up on the currents of his good mood, and wondering what had caused it. Hell, if the look on his face was any indication, he knew his happiness was practically tangible, even to people other than Rhiannon. Damon leaned over and kissed the top of her head as he shifted his Camaro into second, and felt his grin get wider.

**A/N Hope you're enjoying it! When I began this story, I had no intentions of writing a wedding into the plot line, but more and more of you started requesting it, and the idea really grew on me. Another update coming soon! Please review!**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N A huge 'thank you' to all the readers, followers, favoriters, and reviewers. All the notification emails really do make my day! You guys are the best! I love that you guys loved Chapter 26! Here is Chapter 27. Wow, I can't believe we're up to that already. And to think all this started over some Delena frustration! =) Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter Songs: More Than A Feeling by Boston**

**3rd POV**

The sun had nearly fully set, and brilliant hues of orange and pinks streaked across the purple painted sky. Damon couldn't wait until the party was over, and he could finally be in solitude with Rhiannon. He could take her where he wanted to take her, ask her what he wanted to ask her, and just be with her. He was on cloud nine, too thrilled even to be nervous anymore or stress over whether Stefan had done everything he had requested.

Damon forced himself to stare out at the road in front of him, instead of at the tiny redhead perched next to him. That dress of hers was rather short, especially now that she was sitting down. As he approached a red light, he grinned like the Cheshire cat when his wrist grazed the bare skin of her thigh as he downshifted.

Rhi peered up at Damon through her heavy, mascara-sooted eyelashes and smiled back at him. His good mood was more than noticeable, it was like a flashing neon sign to anyone around him. Damon had been grinning like a fool the whole car ride, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel and seemed as lighthearted as ever. Rhi was still curious about whatever 'errand' he had been on at the old Salvatore Estate earlier, but his frame of mind was so peacefully happy, she decided it must be innocent. After all, the place was once his home, and Alaric had nothing unusual to report. Well, Ric had fallen asleep on said mission, but Rhiannon decided that was besides the point. Damon was safe, and he was blissfully happy, and to her, that was all that ever mattered.

When they had first piled into the car, Ric was riddled with curiosity at the reason for Damon's good humor. The guy rarely ever cracked a smile, except at someone else's expense, but now he had a ridiculous grin plastered on his face? It just didn't make sense to Alaric, but he was certain it had something to do with Rhi. Eventually, Ric abandoned his suspicion and accepted his friend's good mood.

_Happy bastard_, Ric thought humorously to himself. _But God knows he deserves it after all the shit he's been through for the past… well, damn near forever. But I swear, if he starts whistling and skipping, we can't be friends anymore._

After another mile or so, Damon begin to hum, and Ric's arm promptly shot out to turn the radio on. Some loud and angry blared deafeningly out of the speakers, causing Ric to wince and cover his ears. Damon pressed another button, and a familiar classic played.

More Than A Feeling.

Damon liked it, but thought that the Snow Patrol CD that he had stolen from Stefan probably had a more fitting song. He normally didn't go for that thoughtful, indie stuff, but that particular band had grown on him after listening to them echoing through the house during one of his brother's intense journaling sessions.

As Damon began to turn his CD player on, he was met with firm opposition from the other two passengers in the car.

"_No_, don't change it!" Rhi nearly shrieked.

"What's wrong with you, man? Don't you know a good song when you hear one?" Ric asked disdainfully, shaking his head in emphasis.

Damon lowered his hand in defeat, and held back a laugh as he watched the girl he loved and his best friend start crooning the lyrics. Rhi's voice was naturally musical, Ric however, needed to work harder at keeping his day job, because a singing career for him was definitely out. The two of them belted out the words to the song, Ric even broke out his air guitar towards the end. Damon couldn't remember the last time he had seen something so ridiculously funny.

Much to Ric's delight, there was a parking spot open across the street from the Grill. Damon parallel-parked, and sinuously exited the car, holding his hand out to help Rhiannon step out. With a little effort, she managed to get out of the car without flashing half of Mystic Falls.

Ric was eager to begin his evening drinking session and to give the lovebirds a moment to themselves. He knew that they both needed and deserved it. Ric also knew that if he witnessed many more scenes like what he had walked in on at the Boarding House that he would need to start taking cold showers. He walked around both of them, smiling and winking at Damon before silently continuing inside.

Grateful to have her to himself, Damon pulled Rhi tightly into his chest and showed no sign of letting go. He breathed in that wonderful smell of hers, and could almost feel his heart expand. Rhi smiled brightly against his shirt, reveling in his affection.

"I think the idea of throwing someone a birthday party is to actually attend it, not just linger outside," Rhi teased him. "Not that I'm complaining, of course."

Damon pulled back slightly to look at her better. He tried to keep the ridiculous grin of off his face, but he failed. Illuminated underneath the streetlight, Rhiannon looked stunning. Damon softly touched the side of the face he knew he would never grow tired of looking at.

"We don't have to go inside right now," he said simply, far too interested in memorizing the look in her eyes and the color her hair was under the influence of the light.

"Damon, its your brother's birthday party," she giggled. Rhi knew that out of the two of them, she needed to be the responsible one. She needed to be the one to insist they attend Stefan's party, and not stay wrapped in each other's arms or wherever else that might lead. And Damon looked good enough tonight to give her conscience a run for it's money.

"I'm well aware its Stefan's party, Rhi," Damon laughed down at her as he began toying with her hair. "But honestly, are birthday parties really that important when you've had more than a hundred of them?"

She stared into his darkened blue eyes, and found herself unable and more importantly unwilling to argue with his logic.

"I feel a little torn," he confessed to her, tilting his head sideways as he looked at her. "I don't know whether to be ecstatically overjoyed to show you off to everyone, or pissed that I have to share you with them."

"You don't have to share me, Damon," she whispered back to him slowly.

Her gaze flickered back and forth between his eyes and his lips, and sensing what she wanted, Damon kissed her deeply.

The two of them continued, not caring about the time or the onlookers that gawked at the way they were pressed against each other. An incessant buzzing disrupted their endeavors, and Damon groaned as he saw Elena's number on his missed call screen.

"What is it?" Rhi murmured as she nuzzled his neck and continued kissing his jaw line.

"Elena," Damon muttered unenthusiastically.

Rhi's eyes were cured of their half-hooded lustiness at the sound of her name. Rhiannon straightened out of Damon's embrace and began smoothing down her dress and fidgeting with her hair needlessly as she told herself she was no longer jealous of Elena. She must've been telling herself this a little _**too**_ loudly though.

_No, Kitten. You do not need to be jealous of Elena. Or anyone else, for that matter_, Damon's voice infiltrated her mind.

"I'm not!" Rhi defended herself a little too quickly. She took a breath to steady herself before she continued. "I was just reminding myself that I wasn't," she confessed in a much lower, quieter voice.

"I thought we were past all that by now?" Damon chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her once more.

Rhi nodded absentmindedly as she feigned a sudden interest in her fingernails, but said nothing.

"Maybe by the end of the night, you'll finally believe me," Damon told her, smiling wide at the true meaning of his words.

"Oh, I believe you, its just that…I…"

"I know, Rhi. And believe me, I get it. We're both jealous as hell and we can't help ourselves," Damon explained.

Rhiannon would've liked to deny his words, but in her heart, she knew he was right. As much as she corrected him for being jealous of Ric all the time, here she was, bristling just at the mention of Elena's name. Rhi knew she needed to get a grip on herself.

"Rhi, look at me," Damon urged sweetly. The truth was, Damon thought she was adorable when she was jealous. Her left eyebrow always shot up in a point, and she always struggled to keep her lips from pursing, even though they usually disobeyed her. But as cute as he thought it was, Damon knew jealousy was a sickening feeling and he wanted to save Rhiannon from it.

He smiled back at her when she met his eyes, and for a moment he struggled to find the words he wanted to tell her.

"Do you know why I picked out that particular dress for you?" he asked her.

Rhi mulled over his question for a moment before finally guessing. "Easy access?" she giggled despite herself.

Damon laughed out loud at her response and then kissed her forehead. "Oh, baby! I like your way of thinking! You know me well, but I was referring to the color of it."

Rhiannon stared up at him in confusion. She had assumed Damon thought the dress was black, his favorite color, when he had ordered it. That is, if he had paid any attention to the color at all. She looked down at the color of the midnight colored fabric and was at a loss at the meaning of Damon's question.

"That's the color of your coat when the moonlight hits it," he whispered softly into her ear, his words dripping with sincerity. He pulled back once more to see her face. "You know, when you're the other version of you. The four-legged, clawed, bad-ass you."

"That's very sweet and thoughtful of you," she complimented him.

"Oh, you have no idea. Trust me, that's only the beginning. But we really should get inside now. Before the party ends."

Rhiannon nodded as Damon walked around to retrieve the large white bunny from his trunk. With one arm wrapped around the massive stuffed animal, Damon clasped his hand around Rhi's and kissed it.

"I love you," he told her. His words were short and simple, but chocked full of emotion and meaning.

"And I love you," she smiled back at him, and they began to cross the street. "Is that really what you got Stefan for his birthday?"

"Absolutely! Stefan loves bunnies, if you don't believe me just ask him," Damon said with a wink.

"Is that the only present you got him?" Rhi wondered aloud.

"No, of course not. There's a brand new stationary set, wrapped and bowed, sitting on his cluttered desk as we speak. There's also a couple new diaries for him to pour his soul into and describe in detail the untimely demise of all the woodland creatures he has encountered. The good diaries, too. You know, the ones that come with those cheap locks on them? Not that they have ever kept me out of them, but they certainly seem to give Stefan some false illusion of privacy."

Rhi's eyes widened at his casual tone as he discussed invading his brother's privacy.

"You read his diaries?"

"Sometimes," Damon shrugged. "Oh, don't look so surprised, Rhi. Besides, most of it is boring. I usually only read them when I'm trying to fall asleep. The only interesting parts are 'The Ripper Chronicles,' and until a few months ago, he hasn't been on one of those binges since the 20s. Don't go in here and ruin my fun by telling on me," he said playfully.

"Your secret's safe with me, but it does seem like Stefan would know by now that you've been reading his diaries?"

"Well, what can I say? I guess his older brother got all the smarts, in addition to the good looks, and the good humor. Stefan just got stuck with the excess hair and the broodiness."

Rhi tried to keep herself from laughing at Stefan's expense. "His older brother got all that, huh?"

Damon paused and smirked before opening the door to go inside the Grill. He leaned down to Rhi's ear, and whispered softly, "He also got the best girl."

Rhiannon looked up at him with adoration.

_And I definitely got the best brother_, she told him silently.

_Indeed you did_, Damon projected back to her, as he finally opened the door and gestured for her to go inside. _In you go, Kitten. Time to get this party started!_

**A/N I know everyone is anxious for the birthday party, and you have my apologies. It was meant to begin in this chapter, but I got preoccupied with Damon and Rhi having their moment on the side of the street. Blame them, not me =D **

**Next chapter is the birthday party!**

**Oh, and I know you're probably wondering what the heck Damon asked Stefan to do for him. You will find out soon! **


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N Party time! ;) I'm estimating the party setting to last at least 2 more chapters. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 28**

**Chapter Songs:**

**We Found Love by Rihanna**

**Supermassive Black Hole by Muse**

**3****rd**** POV**

Damon and Rhi stepped into the Grill, and were greeted by the sounds of Rihanna, thudding loudly on the speakers. The place was packed to capacity, and everyone was busy surveying the girl on Damon's arm. The stares ranged from congratulatory smiles to arrogant sneers from a select few. Damon felt a wave of nervousness roll off of Rhi, and gave her hand a soft squeeze to comfort her.

_She's fearless enough to face off with an Original, but put her in a room full of strangers staring at her and she gets antsy?_ Damon thought to himself.

He led Rhi through the crowd, making his way over to Stefan's table. Stefan shook his head as he spied Damon carrying the oversized bunny.

"Happy birthday, brother," Damon said as he shoved the stuffed animal into the empty space next to Stefan.

"You're an ass," Stefan said, though the smile he gave Damon didn't match his insult. "Its nice of the two of you to finally join us. You put on quite the show out there," Stefan remarked, as he gestured out the window.

"Happy to be of service," Damon quipped. "Speaking of, Rhi, do you mind bringing me a drink?"

"Sure," Rhi responded without hesitation. She knew him too well to even bother asking what he wanted.

"Tell Joe none of that cheap crap he tries to pass off as top shelf to these kids, either," Damon called out after her.

He turned to look back at Stefan, and pressed his mouth into a hard line when he saw that his brother was staring at Rhi as she walked toward the bar.

"Problem, Stefan?" he asked with a tight, humorless grin.

"Chill, Damon. Just admiring the scenery. Its not like I'm trying to steal her away or anything," Stefan said.

Damon narrowed his eyes at his brother, but decided to let it go. He was determined not to let Stefan rankle his mood, and after all, it was his birthday. He had more pressing matters to see to, and he had sent Rhi away for a minute for a reason.

"You did do _**everything**_ I asked, right?" Damon asked quietly under his breath.

Stefan barely managed to stifle a laugh at his brother's sudden change of thought. "Yeah, Damon. I took care of it. I told you already."

"Of _**everything**_?" Damon asked, desperate for some clarification.

"Yes! The radio is right where you told me to leave it. I did everything you asked me to, right down to the last damn candle! Now are you gonna tell me what you're up to?"

"And you're sure you were in the right place?" Damon countered. Honestly, he was thankful that Stefan had done him a favor, but he could really deal without the game of twenty questions.

"Do you really have so little faith in me?" Stefan asked him.

"You really want me to answer that?" Damon retorted.

Stefan shook his head at Damon as he pulled his phone out of his pants pocket, and punched a few buttons before holding it out for Damon to inspect.

"Happy?" Stefan deadpanned.

Damon scrutinized every detail the picture displayed, right down to the last pixel. He recognized the trees, so he knew Stefan had been in the right place. Damon smiled as he saw all the candlelit Mason jars hanging from the branches. All in all, there were easily fifty of them, and fortunately the candles were large enough that with the added shelter of the jars, they would stay lit for quite a few more hours. The picture on Stefan's phone had been taken while there was still some daylight out, and Damon knew the night sky would only make it more amazing. Suddenly overcome with his own delirium, Damon forced himself not to grab hold of Rhi and leave the party early. Instead, he snatched a nacho off one of the elaborately filled platters in front of Stefan.

Stefan studied his brother as he watched him visibly swell with happiness. "So obviously Rhiannon has something to do with all this. But this romance-y stuff isn't really you, Damon."

"Never too late to turn over a new leaf, brother," Damon winked and crunched into the nacho. "In the meantime, how about you keep this between us, okay?"

Stefan nodded and didn't even bother to tease Damon further.

"I'm happy for you, Damon."

The words caught Damon a little off guard and he swallowed loudly and widened his eyes at his brother. "Uh… thanks. For everything…"

"Well the way I see it, I owed you right?" Stefan said, referring to the Klaus fiasco.

"You owed him for what?" Rhi's voice interrupted them as she returned from the bar, and handed Damon his bourbon on the rocks.

Damon shot Stefan a look of warning before turning to look at Rhi normally. "For saving his ass more times than he can count," he told her smoothly. "What took you so long, Kitten? I was starting to worry."

Rhi shrugged sheepishly as a look of embarrassment flitted across her face. "Some guy named Tyler tried to buy me a drink at the bar. He was pretty insistent. He didn't wanna take no for an answer."

Damon took a deep breath and let out a frustrated groan. "Like I need _**another **_reason to kick his ass! What did you do to get him to leave you alone?" he asked her as calmly as he could manage, and focused on not crushing the glass in his hands.

"I finally told him I was your girlfriend and he just took off."

Damon grimaced as heard the term she applied to herself, and was instantly grateful that was about to change. Rhi assumed the change in his expression was merely his jealousy getting the best of him. Stefan, who wasn't at all used to seeing Damon react this way over any girl, found the whole damn situation amusing.

"Well, I'm not surprised," Stefan said, his announcement earning him a angry glare from Damon, and a bewildered look from Rhi.

"You care to clarify, brother?" Damon sneered as he downed the contents of his glass before smacking it down on the table loudly.

"She's a pretty girl, Damon. Look at her!" Stefan pointed out.

"I have, and I do," Damon said in a low tone.

"Hi, Damon. Hey Rhi. That dress is… nice," Elena said as she approached the table and took a seat beside Stefan. Damon smirked to himself as he recognized the trace of contempt in Elena's tone, and knew she was jealous of Rhi. A little, at least.

Rhi smiled warmly at Elena and thanked her. She blamed the dress's lack of fabric on Damon, who merely shrugged at the accusation and wrapped his arm around Rhi's mid-section.

"What took you guys so long to get here?" Elena asked as her eyes flickered back and forth between Rhiannon and Damon.

"You sure you really wanna know, Elena?" Damon said suggestively and averted his eyes to Rhiannon.

Elena's eyes widened with embarrassment, and she turned her attention to Stefan and spied what was next to him in the booth.

"A bunny? Really, Damon?" she said in an unimpressed voice.

But Damon wasn't paying Elena any attention at all. His focus was all on Rhi, and even though they were in a crowded restaurant, packed with people and noise, it was obvious that Damon and Rhi were in their own little world.

"Damon?" Elena called out to him again, annoyed that she was being ignored.

"What?" Damon answered flatly, not even bothering to look away from Rhi.

"Nevermind," Elena mumbled under her breath.

Stefan laughed loudly at Elena while she pouted, half-amused and half-thankful that it looked like Rhiannon was going to put an end to Elena's closet obsession with his brother, once and for all. Stefan knew that in the past, Damon had loved Elena, but he only had eyes for the attractive redhead at his side now. Stefan kissed Elena's cheek and pulled her to her feet.

"C'mon. Let's go grab a drink."

Damon and Rhi followed them as they made their way over to the bar and joined Alaric, who was already ordering his second drink of the evening.

"All of my drinks are on Damon's tab tonight, Joe," Ric shouted to the bartender and laughed.

"Sure why not? While you're at it, call your health insurance company and tell them the liver transplant you're a couple bottles away from is on me, too." Damon teased.

"I've cut back! And I'm quitting. Soon, " Ric insisted.

"Sobriety is nothing more than a pipe dream for you, and you know it. Admit it, accept it, embrace it," Damon offered.

"Hey, after all the snoring I've had to put up with the last couple days, I'd say I deserve a few good drinks," Ric said, and his words caught Stefan's attention.

"What snoring?" Stefan asked defensively.

"Don't start that shit, Stefan!" Damon said, taking the pressure off of Ric. "You snore, and you know it, birthday boy. I've told you for years."

"I snore?" Stefan asked Elena.

"I think its cute," Elena confessed.

"_Cute?_ Ha! Cute, my ass!" Ric laughed and took a generous gulp of his bourbon.

"Well, hello. You must be Damon's newest blood bag," Caroline said to Rhiannon as she approached her. Her offensive tone effectively ended the playful banter.

Rhi eyed the unknown blond girl suspiciously, not appreciating her words or her tone.

"Caroline," Damon warned, silently wondering why all the idiots around him seemed hell-bent on ruining his good mood.

"Oh, get real Damon! What, are you trying to pass this one off as your girlfriend, too? You know she wouldn't be here at all if you hadn't compelled her. And its just plain creepy that you parade your blood donors around in public," Caroline ranted.

Elena watched in awe. Stefan wanted to correct Caroline before she could continue, but he couldn't find the words. Ric sighed, knowing full and well this wasn't going to end well. Damon's eyes narrowed in aggravation. But none of them were nearly as pissed off as Rhiannon.

Rhi's green eyes darkened with anger as she glared at the mouthy blond standing in front of her. She did not like the way this girl spoke to Damon. This _Caroline _was obviously a friend of Stefan's, and it was only out of respect for him that she refrained from knocking some sense into her. But Rhi knew there could be no guarantees if the girl didn't shut her mouth. She blew out a hard breath as she struggled to get a grip on the rage that was swimming through her mind.

Caroline watched Rhiannon grow angrier by the second and only smirked. "What's wrong, Honey? Did Damon compel you not to tolerate people talking about him, too?" she mocked her.

_Don't let her get to you, Rhi. This girl is an idiot_, Damon's voice rang through her mind.

Damon's calming words were not enough to vanquish Rhiannon's animosity, and she felt the tips of her fangs threatening to extend from her gums. Rhi inhaled slowly and tried to focus on her self-control.

"Caroline, you don't understand…" Alaric interjected. He resented Caroline for insulting the girl that he felt the whole damn town was indebted to. Ric knew that Caroline had no idea who Rhi was, but even that did not excuse her rude behavior.

"Oh, stop defending him Ric! I know Damon is your friend, and you managed to forgive him for everything he took away from you, but he's still an ass! And from the looks of it, he's getting sloppy. Look, he didn't even bother to give her a scarf to cover up the bite marks on her neck. Unless, he just hasn't bit her yet. Let's find out," Caroline said as she reached her hand out to move Rhi's hair away to expose her neck.

Rhi's fangs pierced through her gums and at lightning speed, she smacked Caroline's hand away, resulting in an audible cracking noise.

"Don't touch me!," she spat out, enunciating each word like an obscenity. "And shut your mouth, while you're at it!"

Caroline rubbed her sore hand and stared at Rhiannon's fangs with surprise. "I… I'm sorry," she stammered.

Damon beamed with satisfaction as he took in Caroline's reaction. "Maybe if you had shut up and listened, and maybe shown a little respect, you wouldn't have a broken hand right now," he told her smugly.

When Damon saw that he had Caroline's attention, he continued.

"This is Rhiannon. She isn't human, as you now realize. She's more special than you could ever imagine, and I love her. And if that's not enough of a damn reason for you to respect her, then how about the fact that she destroyed Klaus?" he barked and watched Caroline's eyes widen.

"Its true," Elena said, and Stefan nodded in confirmation.

"I'm sorry, Rhiannon," Caroline apologized.

Sensing the girl's sincerity, Rhi swallowed the last remnants of her frustration and nodded stiffly.

An awkward, collective sigh of relief was breathed out by all of them, and then Damon announced that he was buying a round of bourbon for them all. With their shot glasses raised, Damon toasted his brother.

"To Stefan. Happy birthday, and many more, and all that."

Stefan smiled warmly at his brother, and the clinking sound of glasses ensued.

"Sláinte," Damon added, winking at Rhi before downing his bourbon.

The song changed into something that sounded vaguely familiar, and then Damon realized it was from the Twilight soundtrack.

_Damn Stefan and his terrible taste in movies_, Damon thought to himself. _The song's not so bad, at least._

"I love this song!" Rhi exclaimed with excitement. "Dance with me? Please?"

"Your wish is my command."

Damon's good humor had returned tenfold as Rhi twirled around him on the dance floor. She moved sinuously around him to the beat of the music, and though he tried his best, Damon couldn't keep his hands off of her. He loved the way that she felt in his arms, and the contentment that her requited love gave him was overwhelming. The thought of being married to Rhi brought the silly, delirious grin back to his face as he spun her around.

"You're good at this," she complimented him.

"I've got moves you've never seen, Kitten," he told her, widening his blue eyes purposely.

VvVvVvVvVvVv

"So Damon really likes her, doesn't he?" Elena asked Stefan as they both focused on Rhi laughing in Damon's arms as they danced.

"_Likes?_" Stefan laughed at the understatement. "Elena, Damon meant what he said to Caroline. He _loves _Rhiannon."

Elena considered the revelation for a moment as she leaned her head into Stefan. "Have you ever seen this side of him before?"

Stefan sighed before answering her and his thoughts carried him back to 1860, the year his brother had fallen madly in love with a gorgeous red-haired girl.

"Once. Just once," Stefan told her with a soft smile and bent down to kiss her forehead.

**A/N =) This chapter was very entertaining to write, so I hope that you guys enjoyed it too! The party is far from over, I'll update soon!**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: I was super pleased by all the positive feedback I received for the last chapter. That's what drives my creativity, and reminds me why I'm writing this story in the first place, so thank you all.**

**Picking up where we left off, at Stefan's party. Enjoy =D**

**Chapter 29**

**Chapter Songs:**

**In My Place by Coldplay**

**Blackout by Breathe Carolina**

**No One's Gonna Love You by Band of Horses**

**3****rd**** POV**

"Honestly, Rhiannon, I am _**so **_sorry. Like, I don't know what's wrong with me. I shouldn't have said those things about Damon, and I had no reason to be so rude to you," Caroline apologized for the umpteenth time.

Rhi almost laughed at the blonde's eagerness to be forgiven. She knew she had initially wanted to snap her pretty little neck, but Caroline's remorse seemed genuine enough.

"Its alright, Caroline," Rhi told her as she glanced around the room to find Damon, finally spying him standing in the far corner of the bar talking to Alaric. With all the noise in the room, she couldn't make out their conversation, but she could easily tell that both of them were in good spirits, laughing at a joke possibly made at the other's expense. Rhi smiled brightly as she watched Damon and Ric. She hadn't been able to pick up too much on Damon's thoughts tonight, but she was content that when she did, they radiated only sheer happiness and at times, even excitement.

"Of course its not alright!" Caroline screeched, bringing her back to reality. "I acted like a complete bitch to you. You should hate me, or claw my eyes out or something!"

Rhiannon managed to contain her laughter as she listened to Caroline's words, especially the word '_claw_.' She knew the girl had no idea how close to accuracy she actually was.

"I did break your hand," Rhi reminded her.

"No harm done. I heal fast. And I deserved it."

"I don't really like resorting to violence, Caroline. But when it comes to Damon…" Rhi trailed off as she stared across the bar at the object of her affection and his best friend. She knew that despite all the antagonistic comments and teasing, Damon and Ric were the best of friends. Her mouth nearly dropped open when she saw Ric lean in and give Damon a hug.

_Those two are taking their bromance to a whole new level tonight, apparently_, Rhi giggled to herself.

"He's different with you," Caroline said, recapturing her attention.

"I'm sorry, what?" Rhi said. She had still been too fixated on Ric and Damon hugging to remember the conversation. Rhi also wondered why something about the situation reminded her of Damon's mystery errand to the old Salvatore Estate.

"Damon. He's different with you. I was watching the two of you dance earlier and he just looked so happy for a change. More than happy, even. Damon looked like he was walking on freakin' sunshine!" Caroline said, almost in disbelief of her own observation.

Rhi beamed back at her. She knew Damon was exceptionally elated tonight, but Rhi still appreciated the fact that his good humor didn't go unnoticed by the others. Anxious to be back next to Damon, Rhi began to excuse herself and slide down off the bar stool when suddenly someone blocked her way.

An tall, muscular guy with short brown hair stared down at her with a flirtatious smile plastered across his attractive face.

"You're late!" Caroline snapped at him, but he ignored her.

"I don't think we've met," he said to Rhi as his brown eyes softened. "I'm Jeremy."

Rhi was about to introduce herself when a snarky voice interrupted her.

"Take a hike, Baby Gilbert," Damon said curtly, but not entirely void of amusement. "This one's taken."

Jeremy left without another word, but not before giving Rhiannon one last look. Something in his eyes told Rhi that he pitied her, though she was at a loss for any reason why.

"I can't leave you alone for two seconds," Damon said with mock frustration.

"Have fun bonding with Alaric?" Rhi asked him.

Damon nodded quickly. "You looked like you needed rescuing from Vampire Barbie. I also wanted to ask you to dance, _before_ I had to wait in line."

As Rhiannon followed Damon onto the dance floor, a familiar Coldplay song began playing. Damon pulled her into his arms and slowly they began swaying to the music together. His head rested on hers, and he breathed her in as his hands locked around the small of her back.

Rhi turned her head and gazed up at him through her eyelashes, and immediately noticed his dreamy, pensive expression.

_What are you thinking about?_ she projected to him, beginning their silent conversation.

_You._

_Me? _

_Yes, Kitten. You. _

_What about me?_

_Everything_, Damon caressed the word in his mind and let his hands roam over the exposed skin on her back.

Rhi studied him as they moved gracefully together. His cerulean eyes were sparkling, and the delight on his face was undeniable.

_You're up to something_, she mused.

_Whatever do you mean, Rhi? _Damon asked innocently.

_Okay, be that way if you want. Just stay out of trouble, alright?_

_Trouble? Me? Do you know who you're talking to, Rhi?_

_Oh, I know __**exactly**__ who I'm talking to, Damon Salvatore. _

_Point well made, Kitten. No trouble, I promise._

They continued spinning around the dance floor as the song belted out it's final chorus. Damon didn't mind Rhi's suspicion, as long as he was satisfied she was still oblivious to his plan.

_How many people here have a grudge against you? _Rhi asked him silently.

Her question sounded like a whisper in his mind. Damon's eyes immediately sharpened as he recalled all the deeds that had earned him the unofficial title of Mystic Falls' Most Hated. He knew that a lot of it could be blamed on hypocritical, self-righteous idiots, but Damon didn't deny that he had done some awful things. Things that he worried Rhiannon would hate him for if she ever knew about him. He shifted uncomfortably and Rhi's hands came up to hold the sides of his face.

_You can tell me, Damon. Its alright. _

Damon gazed into the depths of Rhi's eyes and saw the forgiveness in them. He hadn't even confessed his sins to her yet, but she was already eager to absolve him of them. The purest, simplest example of unconditional love was looking up at him with bright, emerald green eyes. The red haired angel was too good to be true, but somehow she was, and even more miraculous than her existence was the fact that she was _**his**_.

Damon saw that Rhi was still patiently awaiting his response, so he blinked a couple times, and cleared his throat that had suddenly grown thick with emotion.

_I've done things, Rhi. Bad things, things that I'm not proud of. Things I didn't even have to do, I just did them anyway. You'd be ashamed of me if you only knew some of the things that I've done._

Rhiannon stared up at the hurt in Damon's pained blue eyes and she shook her head softly.

_I could never be ashamed of you, Damon. I don't care what you've done, or who you've hurt. I love you, and I'll defend you - always. The only reason I even asked was so I could get an idea of how many asses I might have to kick, if it comes down to that,_ Rhi thought with a giggle before continuing more seriously. _I'll always be in your corner, Damon. _

"And that's just _**one **_reason why I love you so much," Damon told her out loud as he leaned down and kissed her. Neither one of them seemed to notice or care that the song had been over for quite some time. When reality finally set in, Damon led Rhi back over to the bar and ordered both of them another round of bourbon.

"You do know this is where we talked for the first time last week, right?" Damon asked Rhi wistfully. "Well, the _**second**_ first time."

"I remember," Rhi told him with a wink.

"And if I recall correctly, you were surrounded by suitors that night, too. How things have changed!" Damon laughed sarcastically as he downed his shot.

"I only recall speaking to _**one**_ suitor that night," Rhi clarified before knocking back her own drink.

"Oh, that's right. Wait, wasn't that the same poor bastard you stabbed with a toothpick? Tough break for him."

"I wouldn't feel too sorry for him, if I were you. I think he's pretty happy now, from the looks of it," Rhi smirked and playfully rolled her eyes at his teasing. "You certainly are in the best of moods tonight."

Damon brightened with amusement at her probing statement. She hadn't formed it as a question, but he still knew it was an open invitation for him to explain his behavior. He had to admit, he admired her persistence.

"I already told you why I'm happy," Damon told her smoothly.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't."

"Sure I did. Stefan's ready to start journaling again, and since he was such a bad boy over the summer, it should make for some interesting reading. And I'm always eager for some new bedtime stories."

"Your hilarity really is endless tonight, isn't it?" Rhi laughed and leaned into Damon affectionately. He had been doing his best to shield his emotions from her, but at times the general currents of his mood would still project to her.

Rhi glanced around at the many faces around the bar. Stefan and Elena were peacefully huddled up together in a booth, Caroline was talking to some people she did not recognize. As Rhiannon continued to scan the room, she paused when she saw Ric staring off into space. Rhi counted four empty glasses on the lone table that he sat at, and something about Alaric's eyes looked distant and empty, and she wondered what was troubling him.

An upbeat song began trumpeting loudly, and Rhi brightened with a new idea.

_Would you mind very much if I danced with Ric? He looks pitiful sitting over there_, she projected her question to Damon.

Damon was more than a little caught off guard by her question. He worried for a second that Ric might slip and tell Rhiannon his secret plan, but then dismissed the thought. Damon trusted Ric, and he knew he wouldn't ruin something this epic for him. Plans aside, Damon was still about to grumble that he didn't feel like he had danced with her enough this evening, but when he looked down the bar and saw Ric, Damon understood her reasoning.

_I don't have to if you don't want me to._ _And he may not even want to dance with me…_, she added when she thought she sensed his hesitation.

_Oh trust me, he'll wanna dance with you_, Damon projected back to her, laughing to himself.

_You know that I love you immensely, right? _Rhi asked him silently.

Damon nodded before answering her with his thoughts. _And that's what makes me the luckiest bastard in this damn place. Go ahead, go ask him._

Rhi kissed him before making her way over to Alaric. Damon watched in utter amusement as the forlorn look in his friend's eyes vanished as Rhi asked him to dance. Ric looked up at Damon to gauge his reaction to the invitation. The bewildered but hopeful expression on Ric's face was so hilarious, Damon didn't have the heart to even pretend to look bothered. He gave Ric a good-natured smile and shouted down the bar at him.

"You've got her for one song, so enjoy it while it lasts!"

Ric smiled widely, maybe even a little too widely, so Damon decided another disclaimer was in order.

"Hey! How about you try not to look so damn smug? I said one song, I'm not loaning her to you indefinitely!"

"You're an ass!" Ric grinned back at him as he turned to follow Rhi to the dance floor.

Damon watched the two of them, and he was unable to contain his laughter. Rhi moved around him gracefully, twisting and turning to the rhythm of the music, while Ric did his absolute best to keep up with her and tried to keep from stumbling as a result of his boozing.

Stefan watched the scene playing out before him curiously as he walked over to his brother's side.

"Did I miss something?" Stefan asked, his brow slightly furrowed.

"I don't know what you're referring to, brother," Damon muttered, too interested in watching Alaric and Rhiannon. He noticed that Ric was not touching Rhi anymore than was absolutely necessary, and for that he was grateful.

Stefan ignored Damon's blatant lie and teased him further. "Can I dance with her next? You can dance with Elena."

Damon's smile dissolved as his blue eyes hardened into a glare and shifted in Stefan's direction. He knew his brother was only joking, but after more than a hundred years of losing everything to him, Damon wasn't keen on the idea of Stefan and Rhi becoming close. And the thought of trading Rhi for Elena, even for the duration of one dance, made Damon's skin crawl. "Don't test my patience, Stefan. Now, run along and enjoy your birthday party. Go find Elena or something."

"I was kidding!" Stefan laughed. "It is good to see you overcoming your jealousy, though. You'll see things a lot more clearly when its not clouded by all that green."

Something about Stefan's choice of words jogged Damon's memory, reminding him of something he had forgotten about. "Shit! Damn it!"

"What?" Stefan asked, completely oblivious to the reason for Damon's sudden outburst.

"I just remembered I left something at home. I'm gonna have to go get it before I leave here with Rhi," Damon explained.

"What did you forget?" Stefan asked.

"A blindfold," Damon replied, widening his eyes at his brother.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't need to know that, Damon. I already know too much about your… personal life as it is."

"You asked," Damon reminded him as he glanced at the clock.

_11:48._

"Can you tell Rhi that I will be right back?"

Stefan's brow furrowed slightly. "Damon, we're about to cut the cake. You've really got to leave right _**now**_?"

Damon huffed out an exasperated sigh. If he hadn't been so anxious to see Stefan's reaction to the cake he had picked out, he probably would have left. "Fine. I'll go after the cake is cut."

Stefan nodded and his forehead smoothed. "Rhiannon gets along with Alaric well, doesn't she?"

"She is very compassionate. And she has an exorbitant amount of respect for Ric, ever since he tagged along the night we took care of Klaus."

Stefan stared down at his shoes and reflected on his own actions. "I should've been there," he said in a quiet voice. "I shouldn't have left, I should've stayed. I left you here, and that was wrong."

Damon's eyebrows tugged together, and he crossed his arms as he contemplated his brother's admission. This clarity of thought would've been much more helpful, say even a week ago, but none of it really made a difference either way now. Something in the back corner of Damon's mind reminded him that it was the thought that counts.

"It is what it is, Stefan. There's no sense in wasting time dwelling on it now," Damon told him with a smirk. "And I'm the one who usually gets all of our asses out of bad situations anyway, right?"

Stefan snorted. "I suppose. When you're not too busy getting us into said bad situations in the first place."

"Touché, brother," Damon relented.

When the song ended, and Ric still had not returned Rhiannon to his side, Damon went over to collect.

"I believe my words were '_one song_,' were they not, Ric?" Damon teased him, and watched Rhi laugh with enjoyment.

"Hmm, I don't remember that," Ric told him as he feigned a pensive expression.

"Well, I do, and we're gonna go with my side of the story, considering your level of inebriation. This is me cutting in."

Ric backed away and winked at Damon before returning to the bar. Damon's arms tightened around Rhi until she was as close to him as she could possibly be, and a new song by Band of Horses began playing softly. His fingers wrapped around the ends of her hair that touched the bottom of her back as they moved around in harmony.

"You do know you're beautiful, right?" Damon asked her.

"I could say the same thing about you," Rhi cooed back to him.

Damon grimaced the tiniest bit. "A face, Rhiannon. That's about as far as my beauty extends. Skin deep. But you… You're as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. And trust me, that's saying something."

Rhi felt a wave of sorrow crash through her as Damon's words repeated in her mind. She knew that Damon had made plenty of bad decisions in the course of his existence, but even at his absolute worst, Rhiannon believed he could never be that bad. She shouldered the same guilt he felt, mostly because she faulted herself for causing his actions to begin with. Had she not left Damon back in 1860, had Rowan's compulsion not left him feeling empty and alone, Rhi doubted Damon would have chosen such a destructive path for himself.

"Please don't ever say that," she pleaded with him. "You are just as beautiful and good as I am, Damon. You just like to hide the good that's in you, though I'm not sure why."

Damon stared back at her in wondrous contemplation. "Because when people see good, they expect it, Rhi."

"So you hide everything that's good in you just to spite everyone else's expectations?"

Damon nodded as he tucked some of her hair behind her left ear and traced his fingers over the neckline of her dress and grazed the sharp outline of her collarbone. He smiled triumphantly when he noticed her breathing hitch.

"Don't distract me," she instructed.

"My apologies. Please continue," he smirked, but his fingers didn't cease their handiwork. He watched as she tried to recall the topic of conversation, and grinned as he felt her mental frustration when she couldn't. "I believe it was something to do with expectations, and the problems they present," he prompted her.

"Right," she breathed, appreciating the return of clarity to her thoughts. "You don't have a problem showing your good side in front of me."

"That's because I _**care**_ about your expectations, Rhiannon. I care about what you think about me, and about how my actions affect you. You expect good out of me, and that doesn't scare me, because I already want to give it to you."

Even though Damon was looking right at her, he still wasn't sure how she did it. One second, Rhi was standing in front of him, the next, she had launched herself up onto him, locking her legs around his waist and intertwining her fingers around the back of his neck, and was pressing her mouth firmly to his.

Damon knew they were being inappropriate, but he didn't give a damn. The way Rhi had wrapped herself around him so intimately, the eager way her mouth was moving against his, all of it was bound to draw an audience.

A loud whistle pierced the air, capturing both Rhiannon and Damon's attention. Their eyes followed the direction of the noise and found the culprit.

"Yeah!" Ric bellowed, and then started clapping. A thunderous applause then broke out from nearly everyone in the bar. Damon tried his best not to laugh as he watched Rhi fidget nervously beside him, tugging her at the hem of her dress and smoothing her hair out.

_You started that whole little scene, you know_, he told her playfully.

_I got carried away_, she admitted. _That happens sometimes when I'm around you._

_Believe me, I understand_, Damon told her with his thoughts as he brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss it. _I don't want that to ever change._

_Never_, she answered him back simply.

Elena came into view amid the crowd, her face clouded with a look of mild annoyance. She cleared her throat loudly before she spoke.

"Alright, we're ready to sing 'Happy Birthday' and cut the cake!"

_Thank God_, Damon thought to himself.

The diamond and emerald ring had been burning a hole in his pocket all night, and he was now more eager than ever to ask Rhi to marry him.

**A/N Hope you guys enjoyed it! The next chapter will be interesting! I will update soon!**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N My apologies for the delay, but I was devastated by the Season 3 finale of TVD. Afterwards, I was convinced I needed to incorporate Elena a little more into the story, because as childish as it sounds, I needed to snub her after she hurt Damon. Of course, this meant a little sidetracking from the rest of the storyline, but don't worry, we're getting right back down to business with the next chapter.**

**A huge 'thank you' to LittleStrawberryLove, who through hours of relentless fangirling counseled through all my anguish and bitterness to point me in the right direction for this chapter. I love you, Pea!**

**Chapter 30**

**Chapter Songs: **

**Tied Up by Middle Class Rut**

**Tongue Tied by GroupLove**

**3****rd**** POV**

Stefan did his best to appear stoic as he stared at the remnants of his Bambi-themed birthday cake, but ended up snorting with laughter. Damon could be so abrasive sometimes, always finding humor in the most inappropriate situations, and always relentlessly teasing him. But Stefan loved Damon, and he appreciated his brother's unwavering loyalty. He looked over at Damon as he shoved the last bite into his mouth, smiled, and started laughing again.

Damon shrugged unapologetically and grinned back. "Sorry I couldn't have the real one here for you instead, but you of all people know what a pain in the ass PETA can be," he called out.

"There's always next year, right?" Stefan laughed back.

"Wishful thinking, brother. I like it," Damon said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Stefan's abundant joking seemed to be proof that he was indeed enjoying himself at his party, and for that, Damon was pleased.

Out of the corner of his eye, Damon caught sight of Elena staring shrewdly at him and instinctively tightened his grip around Rhi.

_Wonder what bug crawled up her ass_, Damon pondered silently before deciding that he didn't care enough to find out. Instead he refocused his attention on Rhiannon.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear before kissing her hair.

Rhi looked up at Damon through her thick eyelashes and smiled brightly. "I love you, too."

Elena stared down her nose at Damon and sniffed disdainfully. She had watched Rhiannon with contempt all evening. While she had been thankful to the red-haired vampire for saving her from Katherine, seeing how Damon interacted with Rhiannon consumed her with jealousy. Stefan may be hers, but the idea of competing with anyone for Damon's affection was unnerving. Elena refused to believe that Rhiannon had won Damon so easily, and she wasn't giving him up.

Rhiannon was more than happy to see that Ric had switched from bourbon to water. When she had voiced her concern, Damon had told her that he had seen his friend far more inebriated in previous situations, but Rhi still contemplated hiding the liquor bottles at home. The man drank like a fish, and she worried that all the liver transplant jokes weren't too far away from becoming a reality if Ric didn't slow down.

"Hey, uh, listen, I'll be right back. I've just gotta run and get something real quick," Damon announced rather suddenly, eyeing Ric meaningfully and doing his best to avoid the bewildered expression on Rhiannon's face.

"Well the party's over for the most part anyway, isn't it? Why don't I just go with you?" she offered.

Damon's eyes darted to Alaric for some help. After a moment, Ric seemed to finally catch on to Damon's predicament, and finally chimed in.

"And leave us here with this mess, Rhi? Come on! What's a matter with you, huh?" Alaric managed to say, rather convincingly to Damon's surprise.

"You know Stefan won't be cleaning up anything, either. So yeah, the two of you get cracking," Damon added.

"Oh? And what makes _**you**_ exempt from clean up duty?" Rhi inquired, her left eyebrow arched noticeably.

"Because, Kitten. I am always the one cleaning up messes. I'm taking the night off, for a change."

"So you get the night off and I don't?" Rhi challenged.

Damon chuckled at her relentless interrogation, wondering to himself why he hadn't remembered to simply stick the blindfold in his pocket before he left. For a brief moment, he wondered if it was really worth the trip home at all.

_No, I want her to be completely surprised. I've gone through too much work, too much planning to slack off now. I want her to get the full effect. And its not like I could trust her to keep her eyes closed. She's way too damn curious, _Damon thought to himself.

"Like I said, I will be right back. I'll be back to spring you in less than twenty minutes, Rhi."

Damon almost burst into laughter at the expression on her face. Her arms were folded across her chest, and her left eyebrow was arched so high, it threatened to touch her hairline. Rhi tossed a glance in Ric's direction, and Damon gathered she must've been satisfied with whatever she saw in his eyes, because she finally relaxed.

"Alright, fine," Rhi sighed, not even bothering to ask what he was up to, knowing she wouldn't get a straight answer anyway. "Alaric and I will just have fun washing dishes, while you go do what you do best. Being cryptic and secretive."

Damon playfully pouted and put his hands over his heart. "Aww, now Rhi, that just hurts! That's really what you think I do best? What about that thing I do with my-"

"Damon!" Ric interrupted. "Some things about you, I just don't wanna know, alright? Plus the sooner you go, the sooner you get back…" Ric said as he threw a suggestive glance at Rhiannon, and then looked back at Damon to make sure he got the message.

Damon nodded inconspicuously, then kissed Rhi's forehead and winked at her before walking to the door.

"Behave yourself, Kitten. Ric, you better behave yourself, too," Damon lightly warned before he was out of sight.

Ric surveyed the room and saw Stefan was standing in the far corner talking to Caroline and Bonnie. It was now just after midnight, and most everyone had cleared out in the last few minutes, leaving behind them an endless amount of empty glasses scattered around the counters and table tops. Ric yawned and shook his head, thinking about the time it would take to wash all of them, but then reminded himself that his accomplice was gifted with some supernatural abilities that would cut the cleaning time down significantly. That perked him up a bit, and as Alaric ran his hand through his hair, he looked up to Rhiannon, who had been noticeably silent since Damon left.

He noted that Rhiannon's entire body was rigid, and she looked visibly bothered as she stared out the glass door pane. He guessed that it was because of Damon's absence, and was about to try to soothe her concerns when she finally spoke up.

"Ric, you can go home. I'll take care of the mess," she said emotionlessly as he watched her make her way closer to the window.

"Rhi?" Ric asked. After he got no response he tried again. "Rhiannon?"

She continued to stand with her back to him, never tearing her attention away from the window. Ric sighed deeply, but finally joined her side and tried to follow her gaze. At first, all Alaric could make out was the light-shrouded circles underneath the street lights and the darkness that surrounded them. Another glance at Rhi's tense posture told him he needed to focus more on whatever she was seeing, so Ric blinked rapidly and forced his eyes to adjust to the blackness. After what seemed like forever, Ric finally could make out two dark figures standing across the street. One he recognized immediately as Damon, the other was smaller in height, possibly in frame as well. Alaric blinked again and strained his eyes to focus in on whoever was outside with Damon, but he was still having trouble, despite his efforts. He was just about to ask Rhiannon for further clarification, when a voice interrupted them.

"Hey guys! Did either of you happen to see where Elena went off to? I've been looking around everywhere for her," Stefan asked them.

Rhiannon never acknowledged Stefan. Instead she inhaled sharply and wordlessly barged out the door without looking back, leaving Stefan and Alaric staring at one another in wide-eyed perplexity.

Damon had just unlocked his car door when he heard footsteps approaching behind him. He smiled to himself when he imagined who it could be.

"Rhi, I know you can't get enough of me, but I really do need to-" Damon stopped mid-sentence as he turned around to see Elena, not Rhiannon. He noticed immediately that Elena didn't seem to be as timid as she normally was around him, as she continued walking until she was standing just a few inches away from his chest.

"I'm not Rhiannon," Elena replied tartly, and a smug smile spread across her face.

"I can see that," Damon muttered as he avoided wincing. He found himself wondering what she was up to, and why she wasn't inside where she ought to be, with Stefan. His icy blue eyes narrowed down at her in speculation.

"Aww," Elena pouted. "What's the matter, Damon? You used to look happy to see me?"

"A lot has happened since then and you know it, Elena," Damon replied tiredly, not really caring for where she was trying to take the conversation.

"I know, I know. _**Rhiannon**_," Elena exaggerated the pronunciation of her name as if to make a joke out of her, and Damon felt himself bristle in response. "Its kinda funny, cause I always thought brunettes were more your thing."

"You were wrong," he informed her with a sarcastic smile. "I don't know what you're up to, but you need to go back inside. Now."

"I don't believe that she's made you forget about me so easily."

"I really don't give a damn _**what**_ you wanna believe, Elena. Nor do I give a shit anymore, cause its not my problem," Damon sniped, not even bothering to mask the annoyance in his voice. "But because I'm feeling generous, allow me to enlighten you: you can't hold a candle to Rhiannon. You should be able to see it for yourself, everyone else does! But then again, you always have been great at lying to yourself. She's got you beat in every possible way, so why don't you go the hell back inside, back to your _**boyfriend**_, because I've had enough of you to last me a lifetime!"

As he finished his rant, Damon thought for a brief moment that Elena might slap him for his bluntness. By the look on her face, he knew she was clearly displeased with what he had to say to her, though he knew it didn't matter to him what she thought. Damon couldn't stand the thought of Elena suggesting that she still meant something to him, not after everything she had done, and especially not after Rhiannon had returned to him. He was no longer under Elena's spell, and no longer subject to succumbing to her every whim. Damon glared at her for a moment, then as he was turning back around to his car, Elena quickly closed the distance between them, wrapping both of her arms around his neck and kissed him.

It only took Damon a second to shove her away. "Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted at her incredulously, watching Elena's forehead furrowed at his rejection

The real horror set in as he saw Rhiannon standing behind Elena, and anguish rocked through him. Rhi's full lips were pressed into a hard line, and her hands were clenched into fists at her side. Damon could feel the anger rolling off of her, and as badly as he wanted to defend himself, he couldn't find the words.

Elena whirled around to face Rhiannon, and Damon watched with disgust as her face changed from mischievous to innocent instantly.

"Rhi! I'm so sorry you had to see that! I just told Damon that he needed to be honest with you about how he feels about me!" Elena exclaimed with a sickening fake concern.

Rhiannon's expression remained unchanged, as did her posture.

"_**Honesty**_? You want honesty? You are a miserable, manipulative little bitch, Elena! How is that for honesty?" Damon shouted venomously.

"Damon!" Elena replied. Seeing that she actually had the audacity to act shocked only made Damon's anger swell.

"Damon, please go inside for a moment. I'd like a moment alone with Elena," Rhiannon said in a tight voice without relaxing her body language.

Elena glared at Damon, her brown eyes alight with duplicity. He fought the urge to shout obscenities at her, and instead concentrated on finding his mental voice to communicate with Rhi.

_Rhi, look what happened… its not what it looked like… she… she kissed __**me**__… I didn't want her to… I don't want her… I tried to-_

_Damon. Just please, go inside for now. We'll talk about it later._

Damon knew despite her clear thoughts that Rhiannon was far from being calm. The ire emanating from her was almost tangible, but he couldn't tell whether it was directed at him, at Elena, or at them both. He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the suffocating feeling that told him Rhi was angry at him. Damon realized that this little stunt of Elena's had ruined his plans tonight, and that devastated him. He stared at Elena hatefully, and tried to think of a fitting enough retaliation.

"Rhiannon, I know you're probably upset, but it really is for the best that you know the truth now," Elena continued. "I mean, you should really be thankful, in a way. Damon was dishonest with you, he doesn't really love you, so now you can move on."

Damon scoffed with repulsion at her words. He ran his hand through his hair, and looked up at the night sky.

_Elena really is un-fucking-believable! Her delusions have clearly reached new heights_, he thought to himself.

"You really believe that what you just did is deserving of my gratitude?" Rhi asked her. The anger she had taken care to mask finally seeping into her voice.

Elena narrowed her eyes at Rhi. "Look, he kissed me! Damon has been obsessed with me since day one. You coming back here doesn't change any of that. He still wants _**me**_!"

Damon's face twisted in response to hearing Elena's lies, and resentment coursed through him in reaction to her shouting at Rhi. He was about to tell her off -again- when he heard a familiar click, and knew without a doubt that Rhiannon's fangs had just penetrated her gums. A quick glance in Rhi's direction confirmed his conclusion as he took in the raised veins that crowded the skin around her green eyes. Rhiannon looked positively sinister, and Damon chuckled with satisfaction as Elena's confidence melted away.

"What's going on?" Stefan asked with concern as he jogged across the street to join them.

"What's _**going on**_is that you need to get a muzzle on your girlfriend, if you want her head to stay where it is," Rhi managed to spit out, without ever taking her trained eyes off Elena.

Stefan balked as he saw the extent of Rhiannon's temper, and swiftly moved to Elena's side to place a protective arm around her. He looked down at her briefly, and then looked to Damon for an explanation.

"Just take Elena home already, and ask _**her**_ what's wrong, Stefan," Damon told his brother dismissively.

Stefan nodded slowly at him, and managed to suppress a shudder as he glanced at Rhiannon before walking to his car with Elena.

"Rhi," Damon began slowly. "Honey, I am so, _**so**_ sorry. I wanted tonight to be so perfect, and now its fucked up. Just like everything else I touch."

He leaned against his Camaro and sighed deeply, covering his face with his hands. "I know you love me, but what I don't know is why you bother sometimes," Damon continued, his words coming out no louder than a whisper.

Rhi closed the gap between them in two easy strides, grabbing onto his hands and unclenching them from his face. She frowned as she saw that his eyes were already starting to redden, and spoke quickly.

"Hey… you have _**nothing**_ to be sorry about. Nothing! I saw everything, I heard everything. I would've told you before but I was just so angry at her, and I was trying so hard to focus on reigning in my temper. But Damon, you don't owe me any apologies! What happened was her fault, not yours."

Damon tried to stare off into the distance and avoid the eagerness of her eyes. He cleared his throat and tried to blink his tears away before responding. "Rhi, tonight was-"

"Tonight was wonderful! And I'm not letting _**her**_ ruin it, and neither are you, Damon. Look at me."

He obeyed and met her eyes with hesitation. Her emerald eyes had returned to normal, the veins around her eyes had all diminished. The menacing glare she had unleashed on Elena just moments before was now a loving, affectionate gaze, one that she reserved only for him, and it was full of understanding. Damon sighed, and he felt the last bit of his anxiety wither away. Rhi always had a way of curing him of even his most potent bout of self-deprecation, and though he knew he might not ever feel worthy of her, Damon did know that he loved her with every last fiber of his being.

When she saw him returning to normal, Rhi exhaled with relief, then cocked her head to one side with amusement. "Wasn't there something important you needed to do?"

Damon's eyes widened at her speculatively, and then laughed at her. "Now you're actually _**trying **_to get rid of me? Quite a change, Kitten."

Inwardly, Damon felt his cheerfulness begin to take over once again as he embraced Rhi's confidence that their perfect night wasn't tainted by the Elena incident. He could still continue with his plans exactly the way he had planned, and the thought comforted him almost as much as the look on Rhiannon's face.

Damon grabbed her face in his hands, and seized her lips without abandon. It only took Rhi a minute to follow his lead, her lips began moving in harmony with his, and her hands tugged through his dark hair. At lightning speed, Damon lifted her off the ground, sat her on the hood of his car, and resumed assaulting her with kisses. The quiet sighs and whimpers that escaped Rhiannon's throat encouraged Damon in his endeavors.

An all-too-familiar buzzing interrupted them as the thrumming radiated from Damon's pocket. He groaned as he reluctantly retrieved his cell phone.

"Yes?" Damon barked into the phone.

"Yeah… not that I'm looking or anything, but shouldn't you get going? Or have you changed your mind about tonight?'' Ric chuckled.

Seriousness returned to Damon's face as he remembered his agenda, and awkwardly smiled at Rhi, hoping that she hadn't overheard Ric.

"You were watching and we both know it. And I haven't… uh, changed my mind. I'm going now, I'll be back in a few minutes. Keep an eye on Rhi."

"Kind of hard to keep an eye on her with the way you got her pushed against your car," Ric teased.

"Dick!" Damon laughed as he shoved the phone back in his pocket. He moved aside so Rhi could slide off the car, and with great restraint, managed to only kiss her on the cheek before climbing into the driver's seat. Damon winked at Rhi as she turned to walk back into the Grill, and revved the engine and sped off once he saw that she was inside.

With Rhi's swiftness, the two of them finished cleaning the entire bar within minutes. Rhiannon and Alaric were now sitting across from one another in one of the booths in the far corner of the bar, relaxing. Ric felt utterly exhausted, given the sleep-deprivation he had experienced during the last two days, and all the alcohol he had consumed this evening hadn't helped.

"How are you getting home?" Rhi asked him, as she took in his drowsy eyes.

"Stefan's on his way. He was just dropping Elena off at her house, then he's coming back here."

Even through all his sleepiness, Ric picked up on the reaction Rhi had to the mention of Elena's name.

"Hey, I just wanted to say… I heard about what happened earlier, with Damon and Elena… even saw some of it myself," he laughed mildly to himself, before remembering the sensitivity of the subject. Ric continued in a gentler tone, "Damon cared about Elena at one time, but that girl was toxic for him. Like poison. But whatever he felt for her, is nothing to what he feels for you. Its like… trying to compare a mountain to a damn ant hill!"

Rhi giggled at his analogy, not bothering to correct it because she appreciated his consideration and sincerity too much.

"Thank you, Ric. That means a lot to me," Rhi replied with a smile. "Hold on, I think I left my phone in the back by the sink. Let me go grab it."

Rhi flashed off, and as soon as she was out of sight, Ric heard the bells against the front door of the Grill jingle.

_Christ, I hope its Stefan! I just wanna go home and go to bed!_ Alaric thought sanguinely.

With great effort, he raised himself high enough in the booth to see a clear view of the door. Alaric's eyes widened, and the shock sobered him.

There were two people standing in the doorway of the Grill, staring directly at him.

But neither of them were Salvatore's.

"I'm looking for the _**bitch**_ that killed my brother!" Rebekah announced loudly as Kol smirked hatefully at her side.

"Oh, _**shit**_!" Ric muttered.

**A/N: Cliffhanger after 2 weeks of no posting. I know, I'm bad. =( I promise not to go as long before writing another update. Like I said before, what delayed this getting written and posted was mainly getting so caught up in the finale. Thank you for reading & please review! I love them!**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N So, picking up where we left off with Rebekah and Kol, unexpectedly joining Alaric and Rhi. The party is officially over, and stuff just go real, people =) Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 31**

**Chapter Songs:**

** Badass by Saliva**

**Off I Go by Greg Laswell**

**3****rd**** POV**

Rhiannon had just retrieved her cell phone from the kitchen when she heard overheard loud shouting echoing from the main room of the bar.

"_I'm looking for the __**bitch**__ that killed my brother!" _

Rhi realized automatically the identity of the voice, and smiled wickedly to herself. Rebekah had been the one who had carried out Klaus' command to have all the druids, including Rhi's mother Isolde, executed under the pretense of heresy. Rhiannon hated Rebekah nearly as much as she hated Klaus, and the new knowledge that she had slept with Damon didn't exactly warm her to the blonde vampire. After all these years, Rhi knew she would finally get the chance to kill Rebekah, and she welcomed the opportunity. She paused to regret her decision not to conceal any of her regularly-equipped wooden stakes, and stared down at her platform heels, lamenting her decision to wear them in lieu of her trusty wooden-heeled black boots.

Just before Rhiannon could dash out into the main room, she heard Alaric's voice, slightly garbled with drunkenness and exhaustion, mumbling an obscenity under his breath.

_Damn! _Rhi thought to herself.

She had trained for years, centuries even. She was highly skilled in offensive combat, and knew exactly how to kill an Original vampire. But what Rhiannon had never prepared for was protecting anyone, especially not anyone as fragile as a human. And Rhi doubted very seriously that the life of Damon's friend, a high school history teacher who moonlighted as a vampire hunter, mattered much to Rebekah.

Rhi knew Alaric's safety took precedence over any desire for revenge she may have. Her phone vibrated in her hand, alerting her with a new text message from Damon.

**Be there in about 15 min. Ready for a perfect ending to a perfect night? ;) -Damon**

The thought of Damon arriving at a time like this only added to Rhi's anxiety. How could she kill Rebekah while protecting Damon and Alaric?

**VvVvVvVvV**

Ric watched as the door to leading to the kitchen suddenly swung open with such force it cracked down the center as it collided with the wall. Rhiannon burst through the threshold, with a sinister expression reminiscent of the one he had seen on her face the night she killed Klaus. Ric's phone vibrated incessantly inside his pocket, and reluctantly he pulled it out to examine the caller ID.

It was Damon.

As inconspicuously as he could manage, Alaric pressed the 'talk' button to answer the call, but said nothing as he quietly slid down in the booth to shield himself from sight.

"_Hey, ass-hat! You know I can hear you breathing, right?"_ came Damon's voice on the line.

"Yeah… about that…" Ric began in a hushed tone, ignoring Damon's jibing. "We've got a problem."

Damon's humor vanished as he shifted into serious mode instantly. _"What happened?"_

"Barbie Klaus and one of her brothers from hell just showed up," Alaric whispered.

"_You have __**GOT**__ to be kidding me!"_ Damon groaned. _"Where's Rhi? Is she alright?"_

"Don't worry, I'm on it," Ric promised him before ending the call.

**VvVvVVVvvV**

"Well, well. Look who's finally decided to join us?'' Rebekah smirked as she surveyed Rhiannon.

"What do you want?" Rhi spat back through her bared teeth.

"Temper, temper," Kol chimed in, as he left Rebekah's side to approach Rhiannon, strolling toward her casually. "You really are quite the exquisite little thing, aren't you? Now that I see you for myself, I suppose its not so hard to imagine why my brothers were so taken with you all those years ago."

"Kol!" Rebekah admonished impatiently, but Kol only ignored her, instead tilting his head to the side while he continued to study Rhiannon, nodding appreciatively.

"Ah! But where are my manners? Of course, you're not Isolde, but the resemblance is wondrously uncanny, at least according to Elijah," Kol said to Rhi as he took a step closer to her, smiling brightly.

"What do you mean, _**brothers**_? It was my understanding that only Elijah was in love with my mother," Rhi asked out of uncontrolled curiosity. She doubted that anything he told her could be trusted, nor did she trust any motives he or Rebekah had for being at the Grille.

"My God, you mean you don't know?" Kol asked, astounded.

"Kol, need I remind you that we came here for a _**reason**_?" Rebekah chided him in a strained tone.

"Well, my dear _Rhiannon_, is it?" Kol began politely, continuing to ignore his sister as well as the discouraging look on the face of the redhead in front of him. "Allow me to enlighten you then. Elijah _**and**_ Niklaus were quite taken with Isolde. Rebekah here tells me that the quarrels they had over you, pardon, _**your mother's **_affections were quite legendary, in fact."

"No, that's… that makes no sense," Rhiannon said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Klaus…"

"Yes, _Niklaus_. My brother. The one you killed, remember?" Rebekah hissed.

"Oh, I remember!" Rhi yelled back at her, hearing the hatred seep back into her voice. "The same one that killed my mother, and Rowan!"

Rhi looked back at Kol skeptically, and took a step backward to give herself more distance from him. "I don't believe you. If Klaus really was in love with my mother, then how… how could he…" Rhiannon's mind refused to even wrap around the idea. How could you kill someone that you loved?

Kol was still smiling as he continued to gaze at Rhi. He shrugged at her question like it was completely inconsequential and once again closed the distance between them to Rhiannon's dismay. "Isolde had many admirers, from what I have been told. Niklaus wanted to possess her solely, but she didn't return his affections. My brother never was one to keep a firm grasp on his temper, but neither do you. Isn't that right, Darling?" Kol purred as he brought his hand up to caress the side of Rhiannon's cheek.

Rhi jerked away from his touch as if he had shocked her, sneering in disgust. "Keep your distance from me, unless you want to find out just how bad my temper _**really**_ is!"

"Kol, enough of this foolishness!" Rebekah shouted.

Alaric suddenly appeared, clearing his throat and positioning himself deliberately in between Kol and Rhi. All traces of exhaustion and over-consumption of alcohol had vanished from his appearance, alertness and concern taking their place. Ric had watched the scene play out as long as he could from a distance. He was well aware that Rhiannon was immortal, but it went against something deeply engrained inside of him to standby while a female of any type was disrespected. Ric knew that he had just lectured Damon on the ridiculousness of _his _need to protect Rhi a few days prior, but now that Ric was in the same position, he was reacting the same way as his friend. Ric knew feeling the urge to shield an immortal from any harm was senseless, but regardless, he couldn't ignore the impulse. Alaric had seen her loving exchanges with Damon, and he had also seen her protect him with astonishing ferocity. In a short amount of time, Ric had grown to value Rhiannon's friendship nearly as much as he valued Damon's. Ric knew Damon loved Rhiannon immensely beyond expression, he cared about her, too. Whatever trick these Originals had up their sleeve, Alaric would not let Rhiannon face them alone.

Rebekah and Kol glared at Ric with threatening eyes. If their cold stares had any effect on Alaric, he did not show it.

"I don't think either one of you are welcome here," Ric said to them in a low voice. "Its time for you to leave."

Rhiannon gawked at Ric in total disbelief of his words, wondering why he would ever try to provoke either of them. The only reason she hadn't attacked one of them yet herself was because she was avoiding an altercation at all cost because he was present. Rhiannon thought she had been doing a fairly good job until Ric interfered, and attracted unfavorable attention to himself like a flame attracts moths.

Rhi sidestepped Alaric, and resumed her position in front of him. She was desperately wracking her brain for something to say to Rebekah and Kol to distract them from Ric's interruption, but when Rhi saw that smug look in the blonde's eyes as she eyed Alaric, she knew it was pointless.

A fight was now imminent, it was only a matter of time.

"You know, Rhiannon. Katherine told me that it was Damon who you had ensnared, but it appears she may have been wrong after all. Our friend here, Mr. Saltzman seems all too willing to endanger himself for you," Rebekah mused.

The only response she received from Rhiannon was a menacing glare, so she continued.

"So which is it? Damon or Alaric? Or are you even more like your mother than we all thought?" Rebekah baited her.

"Damon certainly is insatiable, is he not? I must say, he's the best lover I've ever had. Quite attentive," Rebekah giggled maliciously as she edged closer to Rhi.

A feral growl ripped out of Rhiannon, causing Ric to jump and wince. He knew that talking about Damon in any capacity would strike a nerve with Rhi, and the direction Rebekah was taking the conversation was taking a toll on Rhiannon emotionally.

_Whatever the hell they're up to, I wish they'd just get on with it_, Ric thought to himself. _And where the hell is Damon?_

Once again, Alaric placed himself between Rhiannon and the two Originals. Ric was now so close to the two of them, he was nearly brushing noses with them. He ignored Rhi's tugs on his arm as she desperately tried to pull him behind her, and instead focused his eyes on Rebekah and Kol.

"Cut the shit, already!" Ric said with unmistakable irritation. "What the hell do you think you're gonna accomplish? She's an _**immortal**_. She can't be killed. She can, however, kill Originals. She killed Klaus, so what, you two wanna be _**next**_ ?"

Rhiannon listened in horror as she heard Alaric's words insulting Rebekah and Kol and began clutching at his arms even more frantically, desperate to get him as far away from them as possible.

Kol eyes flickered with aggravation before returning to their normal state of amusement. "You know, mate, I don't believe I appreciate your tone…"

Before Rhiannon could prevent it, Kol sent Ric flying back into the plate glass window of the Grille, shattering it on impact. Ric landed on the his back, and lie motionlessly on the sidewalk.

Rhiannon hissed viciously, and wrapped her hand around Kol's neck. She squeezed his neck with such force that she began to feel the bones beneath her grasp start to snap.

"Drop him, or your history teacher dies!" Rebekah shouted at her.

Rhi whirled around to see that Rebekah had pulled Ric's limp body upright, and with her arm wrapped around his neck and her other hand on his forehead, Rhi knew that she was threatening to break his neck.

Instantly, Rhiannon let her hold on Kol go slack as she blurred over to Rebekah's side. As fast as lightning, Rhi yanked the blonde's arm off of Alaric roughly, pulling him into her own grasp. Momentarily, Rhiannon was too preoccupied with Ric's shallow breathing, and she was blindsided by a blow from Rebekah that sent her halfway across the street. Holes tore into her skin and the fabric of her dress as she skidded across the pavement. Rhiannon pulled herself to her feet and faded into the shadows with only one thought: saving Alaric.

Rebekah watched uneasily as Rhiannon's figure transformed into something like an apparition, and then dissipated altogether several yards away from her. She shifted uncomfortably as she surveyed her surroundings, readjusting Alaric's weight in her arms as she strained to peer down the alley for any sign of Rhiannon.

"Boo!" Rhiannon let out a ghostly whisper as she materialized so close to Rebekah, she was nearly touching her. Before the blonde Original had any time to react, Rhiannon backhanded her, sending her flying back into the bar, thudding against one of the pool tables in the far corner.

Rhi scooped Alaric up in her arms before he could fall and gently laid him on the ground. Rhi cast a cautious glance around the inside of the bar. She knew that Kol was probably recovering from the broken neck she had inflicted on him, and that whatever injury she had just caused Rebekah had only stunned her, buying her a few seconds at best. Rhiannon saw no sign of either of the Originals, but heard muffled sounds of movement that told her they wouldn't keep her waiting in anticipation long.

"Rhi," Ric managed to choke out. The weakness of his voice and his shallow breathing sent Rhi into a flurried panic. Something was wrong with him, but Rhiannon knew her blood couldn't fix him. She had learned that over a century ago the night she had tried to save Damon from his gunshot wound, and Rowan had to save him instead.

"Hang on, Ric!" she whispered back to him urgently as she shifted into a protective crouch over him, ignoring the shards of glass cutting into her knees. "Damon's on his way, just… just hold on, okay?"

Rhiannon hated the way her voice broke and she cursed herself for letting any harm come to Alaric in the first place.

_I should've never let either one of them __**near**__ him_, Rhiannon told herself._ I should've just grabbed him and ran away. I couldn't kill both of them __**AND **__save him, but I could've saved him. But I messed up and now I can't save him. _

Tears stung Rhi's eyes as she watched Alaric grow paler by the minute, and agony ripped through her when she thought of what his death would do to Damon.

_Alaric is going to die and its my fault for not protecting him. And now, I have to tell Damon his only friend in the world is dead. I have to look at his beautiful blue eyes and tell him I let his friend die? _Rhiannon couldn't control her tears any longer.

"Rhi," Ric grunted. "Forgot to tell you…" he continued as he weakly grabbed at his sides.

Rhiannon watched his movements intently, and finally realized what he was trying to communicate.

She reached inside his shirt, and withdrew two wooden stakes from a concealed holster suspended from his shoulders.

_I should have known I could count on Alaric to save the day_, Rhi thought as tears blurred her vision.

Rhiannon held the stakes tightly, one in each hand, and whispered to Ric, "Please hold on, Alaric. Just a little longer. Don't go… please!"

Rhi could hear Ric's heartbeat grow slightly fainter with every beat, a confirmation that his time was running out. She swallowed the lump in her throat and softly whispered in his ear, "Thank you for being such a good friend to Damon, and for being there for him when he needed you. Neither one of us will ever forget you, Ric."

The lump in her throat return with a vengeance as a fountain of new tears stung in her eyes. With all the power she could muster, Rhiannon screamed mentally and out loud in devastated agony for Damon.

"One down, one to go," Rebekah sneered as her heels clicked against the pavement, announcing her intrusion.

Rhiannon looked up reluctantly, burning with fury that she was being denied peace in Ric's last few moments on Earth. She sniffed and as she brushed her tears away, she felt the familiar rage begin to build and an instant later felt her fangs pierce through her gums. She knew Rebekah was referring to Damon as the "one to go," and as she considered her words, an evil snarl escaped her. Rhiannon twirled the stakes she held in each hand, momentarily debating on what the best way would be to kill them when a voice halted her.

"_**Stop**_!"

Rhiannon glared down the sidewalk at Elijah, who's troubled expression seemed too genuine to be anything less. He approached cautiously, eyeing Rhiannon carefully and allowing her a wide berth as he got closer to his siblings.

"Rebekah! We agreed that you would not-" Elijah snapped at his sister.

"_**We**_ agreed to nothing of the sort, Elijah. _**You **_stated what you wanted, and had no concern for anything else. I am as tired of this whore as I was of her look-alike mother. She _**killed**_ our brother, Elijah! Have you no sense of loyalty? No desire to avenge him?"

For a moment, Rhiannon considered snapping one of the stakes in half, and impaling all three of them. But her thoughts changed when she listened to Elijah.

"Her entire _**family **_has been taken from her, Rebekah! Her mother, her aunt, and most recently the one that raised her! All of which was Niklaus' own doing, and his deeds were cruel and unjust. I loved Niklaus as you did, he was our brother, but he was also a tyrant. I will not allow harm to come to her for avenging the deaths of those dear to her," Elijah seethed with rage before straightening himself and brushing off his jacket. "Both of you will return home immediately, lest you wish I wake Mother."

Rebekah and Kol glared hatefully at their older brother before exchanging a knowing glance among each other, and then vanished. Rhiannon had to stop herself from chasing after to slaughter them both, and remind herself to stay with Ric, who's heart had slowed almost inaudibly.

Elijah approached her carefully. "I am… tremendously sorry. I cannot express enough remorse for the pain my family has inflicted upon you."

Rhiannon eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but then sighed as she sank back down to Alaric's side.

Elijah watched as Rhiannon seemed to forget about his presence altogether, instead huddling over the human's body. Then realization sparked inside of him.

"So it is true, then?" Elijah asked her incredulously. "You cannot save humans by giving them your blood?"

Feebly, Rhiannon shook her head without turning to meet his eyes.

Elijah swallowed, and knelt down beside her. "May I help?"

Rhi sat upright, and blinked her tears away. She stared at Elijah's face, desperate for her eyes to see him utter the words that she was so certain her ears had misunderstood. His dark brown eyes gestured towards Alaric, and she nodded eagerly.

**VvVvvvVVvvVv**

Damon had originally only left the Grille with the intention of retrieving the blindfold from his room at the Boarding House, but his inner control freak eventually got the best of him, and after the blindfold was stashed away in his glove box, he took a detour to appraise Stefan's handiwork.

After ensuring all of the candles were still lit, Damon checked that the CD player contained the right music and that it was positioned just where he wanted it. Damon needlessly readjusted a few of the jars, paused to survey the scene again in its entirety, and finally smiled and sighed contentedly, reminding himself that he owed Stefan a favor.

The thought that he would soon be back with Rhi brought an even bigger smile to Damon's face as he strolled through the woods and back to his car. He felt as if nothing in the world could take this caliber of happiness away from him. Damon could not wait to see her again, to hold her, kiss her, and ask her the question that he had been dying to ask her. Suddenly, even the short drive back into town to the Grille seemed painfully too long to be kept away from Rhi. Trying to ease some of his longing, Damon fished his phone from his pocket and rapidly fired off a text to her, promising he would be with her soon. But by the time Damon reached his parked car, he still had not received a reply from Rhiannon.

_Weird_, Damon thought to himself.

He dialed Alaric as he lowered himself into the driver seat and cranked the engine. When his friend finally answered the phone, he remained curiously silent.

"Hey, ass-hat! You know I can hear you breathing, right?" Damon teased him, wondering to himself if Ric had gotten into the bourbon again while Rhi wasn't looking.

"_Yeah… about that…" _Ric began in a hushed, troubled voice. "We've got a problem."

Damon's elation disappeared as he registered his friend's words. "What happened?"

"_Barbie Klaus and one of her brothers from hell just showed up," _Alaric whispered.

"You have **GOT** to be kidding me!" Damon groaned. "Where's Rhi? Is she alright?"

"_Don't worry, I'm on it," _Ric promised him sincerely before he disconnected.

Anxiety had now taken place of Damon's bliss, as he raced towards town, not bothering to pay any heed to the laws of the road.

_Of __**all **__fucking nights, why __**THIS **__night? _Damon groaned to himself. _Its like the whole damn town is conspiring against me!_

He had been driving well above the speed limit, and though only minutes had passed since he last spoke with Ric, Damon could not shake the uneasy feeling he had. As he blew through another red light, he cringed thinking of Rhi facing Rebekah and Kol. Damon knew and believed by now that Rhiannon truly was immortal, but he could not ignore his need to protect her. If it turned into a fight, and Damon knew it probably would, he wondered what Alaric would do while Rhi dealt with the two Originals. Damon knew it would not be fair of him to expect Ric to risk his life in any capacity, especially considering Rhiannon's unique blessing.

As the minutes ticked by, Damon tried to call Ric several more times. He smacked his hand loudly against the steering wheel as Alaric's scripted tone answered and prompted him to leave a message for the sixth time consecutively. He cursed underneath his breath, and tossed the phone into the passenger seat with excess force.

Damon passed the city limits sign, and reminded himself of the sincerity and determination on Ric's voice during his last conversation with him.

_Don't worry, I'm on it_, Damon recalled his friend's promise. Damon forced himself to believe that everything would be fine. He would swoop in, deal with the Kol and Rebekah, violently or diplomatically, whatever got the job done the quickest.

_Yes, Rhi and I killed Klaus. Big deal! _Damon thought to himself. _He was a major pain in the ass anyway. Carted his family around with him in coffins anytime they pissed him off! And I thought Stefan and I had problems! They need to count their losses and leave, sooner rather than later._

As Damon's anxiety level began to lower just as he rounded the last corner, he felt and heard Rhiannon cry out to him in a heartbreaking plea. The agony she projected to him nearly caused him to run his car off the road before he regained control of it. He struggled to get a grip on his thoughts as he floored the gas pedal. Damon knew that he had only felt that severe kind of devastation emanate from Rhi once before and that was when Rowan had been killed.

A sickening, crushing feeling overcame Damon as he realized that the only explainable source of Rhiannon's grief.

Damon knew Alaric was dead.

**A/N As always, thank you for reading! I will update soon! **


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N Okay, guys. So I hope no one really believed I would kill off Alaric. May've happened on the actual show, but it ain't gonna happen here =) Dalaric. Defan. Formerly Delena, but after 3x22, that ship sank for me, sorry.**

**Oh, and as a heads up, this chapter is written in Damon's POV. I haven't written in one of the character's POV since I first began this FF, but there's just so much going on right now in Damon's mind, I just felt it was too difficult to express through 3****rd****.**

**Chapter 32**

**Chapter Song: Coming Undone by Korn **

**Damon's POV**

"What the hell happened?" I shouted as I slammed the car door. Rhiannon, a conscious Alaric, and fucking Elijah of all people were huddled together on the glass-covered sidewalk.

Momentarily I was distracted by the sight of Elijah, who was knelt closely to Rhi's left side, entirely too close to her for my comfort. My nose wrinkled involuntarily and my hand twitched, desiring to send him as far away from her as possible, preferably by his neck tie.

I forced the animosity away, and focused instead on Alaric. His eyes were alert, and his heartbeat seemed completely normal. There were remnants of drying blood around the curve of his mouth, and initially I presumed Rhi had saved him. But then I recalled that Rhiannon's blood did not work in the same manner a normal vampire's did. Rhi's could neither heal human's or convert them into vampires with her blood. My eyes unwillingly flickered over to Elijah again, and reluctantly I realized that I was once again in debt to him for saving my friend.

"Just another near death experience," Ric joked as he answered my question, shaking his head as he looked over his shoulder at the destroyed window. "Pretty much a typical Friday night," he added, twisting his clunky Gilbert ring around his finger and eyeing me knowingly.

Christ! I had forgotten all about his damn ring. I had been too absorbed in my own failed plans and worried about Rhi to think clearly. I made a mental note to clue her in how the ring worked later.

I exhaled a huge sigh of relief and lowered myself into a crouch next to Rhi. I ran my hands over my face as I leaned into her, drawing comfort from her closeness as I continued to digest that Ric was alive, not dead like I had believed only moments before. Inhaling a deep breath, I was instantly enveloped in the warm familiar scent of sweet jasmine, but my mood shifted as I realized Rhi's scent was tainted with the smell of her blood. Automatically, I looked over to inspect the despondent girl at my side.

_Rhi?_ I projected to her, but nothing came back to me.

Her knees were skinned, and I stiffened as I realized the whole right side of her body seemed to be marred with slowly healing abrasions. Rhi's new dress was now covered in blood, and parts of it seemed little more than shreds of fabric. Even one of her shoes was missing inexplicably. Eager to see her face, I carefully brushed back the curtain of her long cinnamon-colored hair and growled when I saw the half-healed scrape across her right cheekbone. I tried to get a grasp on the direction of her thoughts, but it was useless. Rhi's eyes remained downcast and unfocused, as unresponsive as the rest of her seemed to be.

"Hey," I murmured to her softly, as lifting my hands to hold the uninjured parts of her angelic face. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, Rhiannon peered up to look at me through her dark eyelashes. I could see plainly that she had been crying, as her emerald eyes were still watered and her bruised and bloodied cheeks were streaked with tears. I continued my efforts to break through the obscurity and get a read on her thoughts, but there was nothing there.

"This is all my fault," Rhi mumbled dejectedly, and her green eyes threatened to spill over with more tears.

Was she kidding?

"Please tell me you're joking," I replied, sighing deeply when I saw that she wasn't. I was just about to address all the reasons why _**none**_ of this was her fault, but I was rudely interrupted.

"Rhiannon, you should not shoulder the blame for any of this," Elijah began. "If anything, the responsibility for all that has transpired is my own. I should have kept a closer eye upon my siblings. I should have anticipated they would conspire to retaliate against you, and stopped them sooner."

_No shit, Sherlock._

"You're damn right, you should have!" I exploded at him, thankful to unleash some of my aggression. "I have the fucking decency to unstake your ass, and you can't even keep a leash on your psychotic siblings?"

Elijah glared at me wordlessly, looking almost like he wanted to hit me. Part of me hoped he would. I was pissed that Rhi had been hurt, Ric almost killed, and that my epic plan for tonight seemed ruined. I was just itching for a fight, and if Elijah wanted to grant my wish, so be it.

"You turn a blind eye while they attack… my… Rhiannon," I continued, stumbling over Rhi's name as I thought of her being hurt . "And they damn near kill my friend! That's one hell of a fucking '_thank-you_,' Elijah! Where the hell were you, penning your memoirs?"

"If both of them are so dear to you, where were _**you**_ during this altercation? At some undisclosed location, inflicting misery on innocents, I would presume," Elijah spat back indignantly.

"That's enough!" Rhiannon roared fiercely as she shot to her feet, kicking off the one shoe she had left in an effort to steady herself better. She stood over us, glowering down at Elijah resentfully.

"I will not listen to anyone vilify Damon anymore, I will not allow it," she commanded with authority. I recognized the wild glow in her eyes, and the faintest hint of patchwork veins beginning to surround them. Rhi was threatening and captivating at the same time.

I stared at her in amazement, still not accustomed to anyone coming to my defense. Never before in my life, living or undead, had anyone ever defended me the way Rhiannon did. And she wasn't just standing up for me, she was doing so with enough emotion that it was causing her to vamp out. Alaric smirked at me, and nodded his head in approval, a silent confirmation that I had indeed chosen the perfect other half for myself.

Elijah swallowed stiffly. Whether he was still reeling from Rhi's admonishment or my insults, I did not know. Finally, he shifted his attention to Rhiannon, and rose to his feet. He locked his dark eyes with hers and grasped her hand as he spoke.

"I ask your forgiveness for everything you have had to endure as a result of my carelessness. I give you my word that I will never stand idly by and allow my brother, my sister, nor anyone else to bring you harm. That is my promise to you."

Like I wanted this bastard making any _**promises**_ to her!

Elijah's words sounded like a Shakespearean sonnet, and he stared at Rhiannon the way a blind man would look at the sun. I'm sure he was reveling inwardly, reliving his hey-day with Isolde before Klaus had her slaughtered. While part of me secretly pitied Elijah's loss, Rhiannon was not his damn consolation prize, and I was more than prepared to educate him. As I stared at his hand over Rhi's, I felt my face twist into a snarl and felt my control snap in two like strained twig.

I was far past the point of exercising restraint, not that that had ever been one of my strong suits anyway. I stood and instantly slapped Elijah's hand away from Rhiannon with excessive force.

"Let's get one thing straight! Keep your hands off of her, she is _**mine**_! I know you have some kind of twisted sense of déjà vu going on, because of how you felt about Isolde, but consider this your last fucking warning, got that?"

Elijah clenched his jaw tightly and returned my cold stare. Apparently, he was pissed. Good. Something inside my head told me I was overreacting but in that moment, I did not care. Elijah needed to learn some brevity anyway. A simple 'I'm sorry' would've sufficed, there was no need for him to get all poetic and start in with his godforsaken promises.

"What's going on?" came an all-too-familiar voice from behind us.

Stefan. Ah, my baby brother. Always ten steps behind the rest of us, how typical.

"We're having tea party, Stefan," I sniped without turning to look at him.

I genuinely had no intention of answering his question truthfully, but Ric took pity on him and spoke up.

"Rebekah and Kol showed up," Alaric clarified, then gestured to the shattered plate glass window around us, and then to the healing injuries on himself and Rhiannon.

"What do they want?" Stefan asked.

"They were pissed off that they weren't invited to your birthday party. I told them their invitation must've been lost in the mail, so now they're off to teach the mailman a valuable lesson," I quipped sarcastically before rolling my eyes at his cluelessness. "Get with the program, Stefan! Rhi killed their brother! They want fucking _**vengeance**_!"

"But if Rhiannon can't be killed, the why are they even trying-" Stefan began.

"My siblings were not trying to make an attempt on Rhiannon's life," Elijah explained, looking back and forth between Alaric and I, before continuing in a disgusted tone. "They merely want to take someone away from her that she cares for. They seem to consider it 'fitting,' since she killed Klaus."

Even though I couldn't feel Rhi's thoughts for some unknown reason, I knew that Elijah's words had alarmed her. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw her muscles tense and her body grow rigid. I suddenly found myself lamenting over how differently the night would be going had things actually gone as planned. My epically planned proposal had been derailed.

"Point taken," I replied quickly to Elijah, eager to change the subject. "How about tightening that leash on Thing One and Thing Two?"

"Regrettably, I am afraid it is not that simple," Elijah confessed.

"Then I suggest you get to work on simplifying it," I replied dryly and widened my eyes impatiently. Honestly, getting direct answers from some people was like pulling teeth.

He glared at me disdainfully before continuing. "Rebekah and Kol are set on the course of their endeavors. There is nothing that I can say that will sway them. I have been threatening them with waking Mother, but there is no guarantee how much longer that will last. I am also not convinced that waking her would be the best solution."

"Stop talking in circles and spit it out already!" I shouted impatiently, calming slightly when I felt Rhiannon's clutching my hand.

Elijah huffed in exasperation and turned his eyes back to meet mine. "There is a reason Klaus kept my Mother locked away in a coffin for all these centuries. She is extremely unpredictable. There is no way to ensure that Mother would not decide to go after Rhiannon."

"Go after me? Wouldn't she realize how useless that would be?" Rhi laughed incredulously.

I was about to join in on Rhi's laughter but then I noticed the grave look on Elijah's face. The severity in his eyes incited panic from deep within me, and instinctively my arm wrapped around her, pulling her close.

"Rhiannon, there is reason to suggest that you are not quite as invincible as you may think," Elijah confessed.

And just like that, my whole world seemed in danger of collapsing.

**A/N Thank you all for reading! I promise, the proposal IS coming, its just taking longer than I expected. Sometimes the chapters get lengthier than I anticipate. Hope none of you minded or were confused by Damon's POV, but either way, try clicking this lovely blue button and telling me your thoughts =)**


	33. Chapter 33

_**Previously:**_

_Elijah huffed in exasperation and turned his eyes back to meet mine. "There is a reason Klaus kept my Mother locked away in a coffin for all these centuries. She is extremely unpredictable. There is no way to ensure that Mother would not decide to go after Rhiannon."_

"_Go after me? Wouldn't she realize how useless that would be?" Rhi laughed incredulously. _

_I was about to join in on Rhi's laughter but then I noticed the grave look on Elijah's face. The severity in his eyes incited panic from deep within me, and instinctively my arm wrapped around her, pulling her close._

"_Rhiannon, there is reason to suggest that you are not quite as invincible as you may think," Elijah confessed._

**A/N I got several PM's from those of you that are worried that I've robbed Damon of his perfectly planned proposal scene. I promise you, I have not. The proposal scene is coming, in the next chapter in fact. It took a little longer to reach this point in the story, but that happens sometimes. When I write, I don't usually have everything mapped out. In fact, that rarely happens at all. I have a general idea when I sit down to write, & then I just start typing and let the characters take over. It may not be the BEST method, but it seems to work for me. **

**Anyways, without boring you any further-We're picking up where we left off, with Damon, Rhi, Elijah, Alaric, & Stefan outside of the Mystic Grill. As always, thank you all for reading and your continued interest in the story. **

**Chapter 33**

**Chapter Songs: **

**Bleed It Out by Linkin Park**

**Set Down Your Glass by Snow Patrol**

**3****rd**** POV**

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Damon shouted, his words a flurried mixture of anger, dread, and impatience.

The evening had gotten off to a great start, and initially held some serious potential for his planned proposal. Damon had been eagerly awaiting the moment he would finally ask Rhi to marry him all night, but little by little, a series of unfortunate events had sabotaged his efforts. And Elijah's most recent disclosure was like spoiled icing on the proverbial cake.

Elijah turned his shrewd stare from Damon to the small redhead and almost instantly his dark eyes softened. "You are the most powerful creature I have encountered," he began, speaking to Rhiannon, "but magical powers aided your creation, and in all my years, I have yet to find magic that lacked loopholes. And as-"

"Hold on, hold on! Wait just a damn minute! _**Loopholes**_?" Damon interrupted. He hated Elijah's suspicion, hated considering Rhi being in danger at all, but what Damon hated the most was the uncertainty that shrouded the whole situation.

Frustrated at being interrupted, Elijah closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before continuing to speak to Rhi, ignoring Damon altogether. "As ruthless as Mother is, I know she would take a supreme interest in you and your unique abilities. Whether she would seek to tap into your power to harness it in some way or attempt to destroy you remains to be seen."

Damon snorted in disgusted defiance. "How about Door #3? We leave crazy Witch-Bitch obliviously asleep in eternal slumber where we can all carry on with our lives."

"Oddly enough, I tend to agree with you," Elijah conceded reluctantly, and adjusted the collar of his pressed shirt as if to distract himself. "However Rebekah and Kol may not heed my warning without Mother having been woken."

"Then _**I**_ will deal with them," Rhi spoke up firmly. Her green eyes gleamed and matched the malice in her words. "Elijah, as their brother, if you value their lives, I suggest you convince them to leave the people I care about alone and unharmed. I am grateful to you for saving Alaric, and that is the sole reason that I will not go hunt the both of them down tonight. But you should realize, I will not be as generous should they attack again. I will kill them, and I will not think twice about it."

Elijah nodded once in agreement of their understanding. He paused before turning to leave, looking as if he would like to say more to Rhiannon, but alas decided not to antagonize the volatile blue-eyed vampire glued to her side any further. Elijah cast one final glance at Alaric and Stefan before he turned and walked off in silence, finally disappearing into the obscure darkness.

Damon stayed frozen in his position, poisoned with disappointment and anxiety. His fists were clenched tightly at his side as he replayed the conversation with Elijah over again in his head, pouring over his words and grasping at anything that particularly stood out. But nothing did.

Damon was still deep in thought when Stefan foolishly interrupted his concentration. "Well, what's the plan now?"

Damon whirled around furiously and unleashed the intensity of his icy stare on Stefan. "_**Plan**_, brother? Isn't that just like you, standing around, looking pensive while you wait for me to come up with a master plan to save us all… What? No running for the hills this time with that little whore you like to call a girlfriend?"

"Damon," Rhi chided him with a gentle voice. It wasn't that she didn't necessarily agree with Damon, because for the most part, she did. Stefan had more or less turned his back on Damon when he had ran off with Elena. And after her little stunt with Damon after the party, Rhi had a few choice words for Elena, 'whore' being one of the nicer ones. Regardless, Rhiannon knew that Damon was furious over something that had nothing to do with Stefan.

She placed her hand in his, and Damon turned his gaze to meet hers and his eyes softened immediately. He inhaled deeply, and project to her through his mind, but failed for the umpteenth time. He eyed her curiously, slightly alarmed at the cause of their recent mental silence, but ultimately Damon pushed that particular trouble to the backburner and concluded it was probably the least of his current worries. He gave her a tight, reassuring smile and squeezed her hand before turning his attention back to Stefan.

"Alright, that was harsh. Let's just say, I'm more than a little tense at the moment," Damon began. His eyes were downcast, so he did not notice the surprise painted across Stefan's face as he listened to the closest thing to an actual apology he had received from Damon in years.

"There is no official _**plan **_yet. Normally, I would've decided to go Original hunting tonight with Rhi and end our little problem now, but Elijah's little newsflash effectively threw a wrench in that plan," Damon said, wincing.

"Damon, Elijah doesn't know anything. He has no way of knowing that Esther could hurt me, so there's no need-" Rhi began.

"There _**is**_ no need," Damon agreed curtly, cutting her short. "Because you're not going anywhere near her, Kitten. I will be personally seeing to it that you stay as far away from Mama Original as possible. I'm not letting you out of my sight. And when we _**do**_ meet up with Rebekah and Kol, I'll be with you."

"You can't be serious, Damon!" Rhiannon protested. "Have you forgotten that they can't hurt me?"

"Your current condition would suggest otherwise," Damon replied dryly as his eyes combed over her, taking inventory of her slowly healing wounds. The only thing that remained from most of her injuries was dried blood and yellowing bruises, but the gash on her cheek had still not completely closed.

"_**I**_ will be good as new in another five minutes," she argued back. "Even if they decide to run a stake straight through my heart, I'll recover and be back to kicking their asses within minutes. Can I say the same about what would happen if they staked _**you**_?" As irritated as she was with Damon's obstinacy, Rhi was barely able to choke out her last words. Just the thought of anything hurting Damon was enough to bring her to tears. She would not, could not allow that to happen. If she had to fight with him to keep him safe, then so be it.

"I'm not allowing you to face them alone, and that's it. End of story," Damon told her in a hard voice, widening his eyes emphatically.

Stefan and Ric glanced at each other awkwardly as they witnessed Damon and Rhi's disagreement, but neither was brave enough to say a word.

"Oh really?" Rhi challenged. "What are you gonna do if I don't agree to go along with your _**plan**_?"

"Well in that case, there's always the holding cell in the basement," Damon sniped.

"You could try and see how far you get, but I doubt you'd be satisfied with the outcome of that!" she scoffed defiantly. Rhi didn't know whether to be pissed at his threat of imprisonment, or find it hilarious. "Damon, be reasonable! I'm only trying to protect you!"

"And I'm trying to protect _**you**_!" Damon thundered loudly. Instantly regretting the sharp tone he had used with her, Damon grimaced as he let out a troubled sigh and ran his hand through his dark hair. "I'm sorry, Rhi. I-I'm just… worried. There was so much I had planned for us tonight, and now we have all this shit to deal with. And you can't hear me anymore, and I can't hear you."

Stefan's brow furrowed as he listened to Damon's last words, and he looked over to Alaric for clarification.

"They do this… mental-telepathy thing. Its weird and Twilight-y if you ask me, but Damon acts like it's the greatest thing since blood banks," Ric explained and rolled his playfully.

Still in their own little world, Damon pulled Rhi into his arms and held her tightly.

"I'm sorry too," Rhi muttered against his chest.

"Its alright," Damon soothed her as he nestled his nose into her hair. "I actually liked it when you got saucy with me. It was kind of a turn-on."

"And that's my exit cue! Later!" Stefan announced, and Ric nodded in relieved agreement, winking at Damon before turning to follow Stefan to his car.

"Tonight started out so perfectly to turn into such a failure," Damon lamented as he stroked Rhiannon's hair down the length of her exposed back.

Rhi pulled herself just far enough out of Damon's tight embrace so that she could see his face. "It wasn't that bad."

Damon smirked at her as he brought his hand to her face and gently traced the fading pink line that had been her gash. "_**It wasn't that bad**_ ?" he chuckled humorlessly as he tucked her hair behind her right ear. "Rhi, there has been nothing but relentless sabotage since we got to the Grill. First with Caroline and her big mouth, then Elena goes bat-shit crazy, and then the Spawns of Satan attack. And to top all that off, Elijah drops the whole _'Rhi-might-not-be-invincible-after-all'_ bombshell on us. So I guess you're right, Kitten. Tonight wasn't _**bad**_, it was doomed from the fucking start."

Rhi shook her head slowly at his cynicism and raised her lips to his ear. "It doesn't have to be a failure, Damon," she whispered slowly.

Her words tantalized him seductively and sparked a renewed hope within him. Damon kissed her ferociously, which Rhiannon eagerly responded to, and within moments her enthusiasm won him over. Damon decided that maybe the night wasn't ruined after all and abruptly he broke away from her. His eyes scanned the surroundings and without offering an explanation, he darted across the street.

"What-where are you going?" she asked, confused and disgruntled from his broken kiss.

Damon bent down, and raised himself back up an instant later. He turned around and flashed her a dazzling smile as he presented an object to her in his hands.

"Retrieving your other shoe, Cinderella," he told her with a wink as he slid the shoe onto her left foot. "Now hurry up, we have somewhere to be. Its already past midnight and I'd rather my Camaro didn't turn into a pumpkin."

**A/N I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and didn't mind Damon and Rhi getting into a minor little spat. I didn't have that planned, it just sort of flowed out as I was writing and it seemed pretty logical, considering both of their first priorities are keeping the other one safe. It was quickly resolved, and that's what matters =) Oh, and you're also gonna find out soon (within the next 2 chapters) why their telepathy has ceased. Stay tuned!**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N Okay guys, here it is! The proposal you've all been anxiously waiting for… =) Oh, and since I wrote in Damon's POV recently, I decided to step inside Rhiannon's mind for the full impact of this chapter. I'm sorry if it confuses any of you! I started writing it in 3****rd****, but it just didn't feel right. Enjoy!**

**Sorry if there are any typos. Its really early and I'm super tired!**

**Chapter 34**

**Chapter Song: Turning Page by Sleeping At Last**

**Rhiannon's POV**

"You're making me wear _**what**_ ?" I screeched as I watched Damon retrieve a black neck tie out of his glove box. I knew he had been acting pretty sketchy and secretive today, but the idea of blindfolding me took things to a whole new level. I trusted him of course, but the idea seemed a little sudden and risky, especially considering the wayward trajectory our night had taken.

"Relax, Kitten," Damon laughed as he knotted the tie firmly at the back of my head, effectively robbing me of my vision. "Its only for the car ride, then you can take it off."

"Wait-hold on a second!" I said as I began to tug at the fabric covering my eyes, but a firm set of hands stopped my efforts.

"Ah, ah, ah," he chided me gently, and readjusted the tie. Damon's good humor had returned to him. I did not know the reason for it, but I was thankful to hear the smile in his voice all the same. "Don't make me have to restrain those hands too," he added playfully.

"You could try," I teased him back. "Haven't we already had this discussion tonight?"

"Oh, but I could make it worth your wile," Damon promised me. "Trust me."

His last words were a blatant promise, laced with such seduction that for an instant I forgot what we were talking about. It was ridiculous how distracting Damon could be sometimes, especially now when I could not even see him. Not that I needed to see him to remember how mesmerizing those blue eyes were, or how devastatingly beautiful his smile was. The man was perfection in its most basic form. Anyone who argued that was an idiot.

I could almost feel Damon's satisfaction radiating throughout the confines of his car. Damon knew he had succeeded in distracting me, and with that, he cranked the engine of his car. I took a deep breath only to be assaulted by his delicious scent, the perfect blend of chocolate, various spices, and bourbon, all magnetized to their most potent extent within the small confines of his car. I struggled briefly to get a grip on myself.

"Given everything that's just happened, do you really think it's a good idea for me to be blindfolded right now?" I reasoned.

"Rhi, if you're referring to those two goons… _**please**_!" he remarked carelessly. "Don't insult me. I can handle those idiots by myself, you can just sit there and look pretty. Which, you do very well, might I add."

His tone was so convincing, I almost believed he really wasn't concerned about what Kol and Rebekah might be plotting. But whether or not I bought into his nonchalance, my main concern was Damon's safety.

"But Damon-"

"But nothing, Rhi," he interjected as I felt the car make a right turn. "Look, I know that you're worried. I get it. But can we please _**- please- **_forget about the shitstorm that happened earlier and just focus on us tonight? Or what's left of tonight, anyway?"

There was a slight urgency in his voice, a barely concealed desperation that had not been there before. Damon needed this break from the hell that was going on around us. How could I deny him that? I gnawed at my lip as I weighed my options. My pragmatic side and my need to protect Damon warred with my emotions and my desire to give into whatever he asked for. For the moment, I was almost thankful to have something obstructing my vision so I could think clearly. The sight of Damon was always one hell of a distraction.

"How much longer do I have to wear this thing?" I grumbled, though it came out more humorously than I had snorted with laughter.

"Not much longer now, I promise. That is, unless you want to keep it on. You know, for later."

I exhaled out of my mouth and shook my head at his attempt at diverting me. I tried to keep my face serious, but I could feel my resolve begin to falter.

"You might be shaking your head 'no,' but that smile on your face suggests otherwise, Kitten," he baited me.

I shrugged my shoulders with playful indifference, and felt the car shift, turning left. I sat in silence and began recalling the list of turns we had made since Damon had started driving. Unfortunately, nothing about the direction we were heading seemed to give anything away.

Where was he taking me? And why is it a secret anyway?

For the hundredth time during the past hour, I tried to reach out to him mentally, but was unsuccessful. Great. Another unanswered question.

"Don't even bother," Damon said suddenly, causing me to jump a little.

"What are you talking about?" I wondered aloud, genuinely curious.

"You. You think I don't realize what you're doing? You're retracing the turns I've made, trying to figure out where I'm taking you," he accused fervently. "Its no use, Rhi. I've intentionally taken a longer route to where we're going. Two of the turns I have made were completely unnecessary, so it honestly is pointless."

I could tell plainly by the amused tone of his voice that Damon was clearly impressed at the thoroughness of his planning. I had to admit, I was pretty impressed too.

"That was only part of what I was wondering," I confessed. "I don't understand why I can't communicate with you with my mind anymore. Its strange."

"I've been thinking about that little mystery too," Damon sighed and I heard him shift in his seat. "But I can't figure out who's behind it. Esther seems to be the only likely suspect."

"Esther?" I repeated. I had been searching for an explanation, but it had not occurred to me that _**someone**_ could be the reason. I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts before I continued. "How could she have any influence over how we can communicate with each other? And besides, Elijah said that she was still asleep and-"

"Hold it right there!" Damon interrupted. "A) Esther is _**the**_ witch. I doubt there's much she can't control, in some form or another with all that Original, witchy juju-ness. B) Don't believe a fucking word Elijah tells you. And C) … what I just said."

"But you unstaked Elijah the night we killed Klaus," I mused aloud, ignoring his comments about Esther for the moment.

"I owed Elijah, and I hate owing people," Damon groaned, but I knew his frustration was not directed at me. "I hate being in debt to someone for anything. I saw an opportunity to rid myself of that, and I took it. Doesn't mean I actually like him, it just means that I can tolerate him a little more than his nutcase siblings. And believe me, my patience for Elijah and all his words and poetic bullshit has worn thin. Especially recently."

I sat quietly, contemplating everything I knew about Esther while Damon ranted on about Elijah. I knew Esther was powerful, but I refused to believe that she could actually harm me. I was not scared of Esther. The only thing that scared me was the idea of losing Damon. The thought alone sent a slight shiver up my spine, which I tried to disguise while I shifted my position.

"Damon, there's no need to worry about Esther. I don't think she has anything to do with our minds no longer being linked. And even if she is behind it, I'll take care of her," I told him confidently.

"And how exactly are you planning on taking care of her?" he asked dryly.

I grinned wryly as I concentrated for a brief moment until I felt my body shimmer into transformation. I let out a feral roar and though my vision was still obscured by the blindfold, I could swear I felt Damon jump slightly.

"Cute, Rhi. Very cute," Damon said humorlessly. "What? You think Esther the Bitch-Witch has an allergy to cats?"

I snorted with laughter, focused for a moment and shifted back to my original form, still laughing. "Well what's your master plan then?"

"I never have just _**one **_plan. I have to formulate a main master plan, then come up with a secret contingency plan that only I will be in on," he explained. "Though at the moment, I have neither."

"Like I said… _**I **_will take care of Esther," I said.

"_**We**_," Damon clarified quickly, completely ignoring the point I was trying to make. "We will take care of her."

I opened my mouth to protest, but shut it quickly, and instead chose to lace my fingers together firmly in my lap. _**I **_knew that when the time came, it would just be me who dealt with Esther. But was it really worth arguing with Damon all over again?

No, it was not.

This was one argument I knew I would not win or lose with Damon. The reason behind our disagreement was something that neither one of us would ever compromise on: each other's safety. As unbearable as it was to imagine Damon being in any kind of danger, I knew it was equally as hard for him to think of me in a similar situation. Had I not been able to connect with Damon's thoughts and memories, I might have insisted that my instinct to protect him was stronger than his need to protect me. But I could not doubt the depths of his feelings for me compared to my own, nor the lengths Damon would go in order to keep me safe.

Damon did not speak, and I guessed that he understood where my thoughts were. We sat together wordlessly until the car finally slowed and eased into park. Instantly, Damon opened my door and knelt down close to me at my side.

Even in my blinded silence I was not oblivious to the growing desire surrounding us. I found myself wanting to snatch away the silky material shrouding my sight and get lost in his eyes. Damon seemed to guess my intention because just as my hands rose, he clasped both of my wrists and rendered them immobile.

"Not just yet," Damon chuckled huskily. "A couple more minutes and then you can shred the damn thing for all I care. But before I get you out of this car, promise me something."

My ears recognized his words were not so much a request as a plea, and I nodded eagerly.

"No more talking about anything but happy things. Nothing even remotely bad," Damon said as he released one of my wrists only to caress the right side of my face. "If its not about fluffy puppies, pixie dust, or the intensity of your love for me, its not even worth talking about. Alright?"

Fluffy puppies and pixie dust? Maybe Damon had consumed more bourbon than I thought…

"Deal," I replied, inhaling sharply with surprise as I felt myself being pulled out of the car and into his arms. "Am I not allowed to walk now?"

Against my cheek, Damon's chest rumbled with soft laughter as he carried me. My mind raced with speculation as I tried to unravel this mystery. Crickets serenaded in the distance and with each of his steps, leaves crunched underneath us. I knew that it had to be well past midnight, so what could Damon want to be in the middle of the woods for at this hour? Stefan was presumably back at the Boarding House, and I knew that Damon was always eager to have me all to himself, but this was a little extreme… even for Damon.

"You're cute when you're pensive," he whispered against my hair.

"I wouldn't have to be pensive if I knew what we were doing," I replied.

"Ah, but if you knew what were doing, you wouldn't have that adorable little crease between your eyebrows. Honestly, Rhi. You actually make the furrowed brow look good. Stefan could take a few pointers from you."

I giggled at his ridiculous compliment until felt him tighten his hold on me.

"You are gorgeous," he said in a breathier voice than before.

"So are you."

"Says the one who's blindfolded? I don't know if I can trust that statement…" he quipped.

"Believe me, Damon," I said as I nestled my head into his chest. "I don't need my eyes to see anything about you."

My nose grazed over the fabric of Damon's shirt, and the deliciousness of his scent washed over me. I inhaled another quick, unnecessary breath and smiled to myself. That's when I picked up on two other smells.

Pine. That obviously gave nothing away, as I was already aware we were in the forest.

However the other smell was clay dirt, which I knew was only found outside the city limits, south of town. In fact, after all the erosion over the course of the years, clay was a pretty rare thing to stumble across. The only place I knew it remained was down close to the quarry, and in the woods surrounding Leamineagh.

Suddenly, Damon's momentum slowed to a stop, and he eased me onto my feet and placed both of his hands on my shoulders.

"Stay right here for a second, alright?" he said, and the excitement in his voice was not lost on me. "And no peeking!" he called as I heard him walking away from me.

_What the hell?_

If we were at Leamineagh, where was the surprise in that? Maybe Damon thought that coming here, where I had lived with Rowan, where Damon and I had shared our first kiss a century before might brighten my mood. But would that really require a blindfold?

After only a moment, I felt the breeze of Damon's approach. I felt his hands untying the knotted fabric, and heard a soft melody begin to drift through the air. A slow beautiful symphony of piano, joined by a violin caught me off guard. I felt the cool night air touch my eyelids and eagerly opened my eyes.

And when I did, the sight left me overwhelmed.

In the absence of the moon, the sky was illuminated only by thousands of stars sprinkled across the horizon above us. Tiny flames flickered inside glass mason jars, suspended from tree limbs all around us. The resonating glow of fireflies glimmered in the distance. The melody playing in the background was enchanting, and each lyric more meaningful than the last. And then I realized where Damon had brought me. We _**were**_ at Leamineagh.

It was beautiful. More than beautiful, it was magical. Like something out of the fairytales that I had never placed any faith in.

And then my eyes locked on the most glorious thing about the whole scene.

Damon.

He stood before me motionlessly, watching me intently. His face was filled with such raw emotion that it took me aback for a moment, wondering what had put it there.

"Damon," I managed to say as I almost unwillingly moved my eyes away from his long enough to survey our beautiful surroundings before returning my gaze to him. "This is just… breathtaking."

Damon smiled back at me lovingly and I found myself mesmerized. "The only thing breathtaking here is you, Rhi."

He watched me very closely, almost as though he was mentally recording my slightest move and my every breath. His blue eyes sparkled as the candlelight reflected in them as the patterns of light and shadows danced around us. Aside from the obvious emotion in his expression, there was also an innocence, an almost vulnerability about him. Just before I could ask him if something was wrong, or what we were doing here, Damon began to speak.

"I want to tell you something. A lot of things, actually. I had everything all rehearsed to perfection, but now I'm here in front of you, and all I can do is look at you," he said nervously.

Since when does Damon get nervous? Was he trying to butter me up for something by pulling out all the stops with this romantic stuff?

I looked at him quizzically. Despite my suspicion, I gave him an encouraging smile that he seemed to appreciate. He inhaled slowly, then proceeded again.

"Do you remember the first time you brought me here?" Damon asked me as he took my hands in his and briefly looked around.

I nodded. "You had only just met me, and insisted on bringing me home from the train depot. You were outraged that I had no chaperone to accompany me home, especially since it was so late, so you drove me here in your carriage. I tried telling you I was quite capable of taking care of myself, but I guess you didn't believe me."

"Oh, I believed you. I just couldn't bring myself to walk away from you," Damon said genuinely, mildly smug. "Its also where I kissed you for the first time."

"I haven't forgotten," I whispered back, letting the memory flood my mind. "I had never kissed anyone before. I was as nervous as you were. And then Rowan caught us!"

A wide smile spread across Damon's face as his mind drifted back in time, though he kept a close eye on me, and I guessed he was examining me closely for any trace of sorrow at the mention of Rowan's name. I put forth a concentrated effort to maintain a cheerful expression, and watched him relax a little. Damon brought my right hand up to his face, and kissed the Claddagh ring that adorned my finger before he began absentmindedly twisting it in circles.

"Do you remember the night I gave you this?"

"Yes, of course I do, the night of the first Founder's Ball. Its one of my most favorite memories."

"I told you when I put this on your finger that one day I would ask you to be my wife," he said very slowly and meaningfully.

Oh!

_**Oh…**_

"I love you, Rhi. I _**love**_ you," Damon told me fervently. "I have always loved you. After Rowan compelled me to forget you, my life was nothing short of a torturous abyss of emptiness. I missed you, even though I did not know you. And then when I saw you last week in the Grill, it awakened something inside of me. I was drawn to you, and not just for the obvious reasons. My _**soul**_ is drawn to yours. I was on the verge of self-destruction that night, but then I saw you, and you saved me. And you've been saving me ever since."

The devotion and adoration in his eyes were unmistakable, and the conviction in his words brought tears to my eyes. Damon swallowed thickly before continuing.

"You are the answer to every unspoken prayer I've ever had. You are my own true love, and I don't know how I have lived without you for as long as I did, but I sure as hell don't want to try that again. I never want to be apart from you again, not even for a second. I want to bind myself to you in every possible way."

The most beautiful thing about his words was that everything he described about his feelings for me _**identically**_ described how I felt for him.

Tears flowed freely out of my eyes as I listened to him and watched in captivated amazement as he lowered himself to his knees before me. Damon unfolded his hand to present me with a stunning antique diamond ring with an emerald encrusted mounting.

"You are my salvation, Rhiannon. You and you, alone. Will you do me the absolute honor of marrying me?" he asked after swallowing thickly.

"You know I will. Yes!" I managed to choke out while nodding vigorously. Damon pushed the ring onto my left ring finger and admired the view of it before standing and turning his affectionate smile to me. My eyes raked over his gorgeous features, savoring everything from his exquisite jaw line to how perfectly his dark hair contrasted against his electric blue eyes. Unable to restrain myself any longer, I crushed my lips to his relentlessly.

Damon seemed delighted at my reaction, and wrapped his arms around me tightly, eagerly reciprocating my kiss. My hands roamed all over him, clearly unable to decide which part of him was best to settle on.

"I. Love. You," I whispered against his lips in between kisses. I saw him grin widely as he began kissing his way down my neckline.

"And I love you. Immensely," Damon added as he lifted me off the ground. "Let's go home."

**A/N I hope you all enjoyed this! I took a little longer writing it than I expected, but I really wanted to get this chapter RIGHT. I will work on getting the next chapter out as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!**

**(On a side note, I have also been distracted with an AMAZING new book. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. Do yourself a favor and read it, you won't regret it. **

**And another equally irrelevant side note, E.L. James, author of 50 Shades, tweeted ME! I'm still not over that!) **

**Anyway, I am always fangirling about TVD and Damon on twitter, so follow me and I'll follow you back.**

**robyn_michelle**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N Thanks for all the love! Glad you guys enjoyed Damon's proposal… he certainly had enough delays! Sorry for any errors, its super early here and I'm really tired, but I feel like I've made you guys wait long enough for this.**

**A _huge _thank you to xxxMrsSalvatorexxx for beta-ing this for me! **

**Chapter 35**

**Chapter Song: The Violet Hour by Sea Wolf**

**3****rd**** POV**

**On the way back to the Boarding House…**

"We're getting married!" Rhi squealed excitedly as she leaned over to kiss Damon's cheek.

"We're getting married!" Damon laughed in affirmation, waiting for the reality of it all to set in on himself. He flashed Rhi a mega-watt smile before averting his eyes back to the road.

Damon was overjoyed. Previously he never would've considered getting married - ever. Why would he? He lived out his life as the eternal stud and had recruited hundreds of women to his bed over the years. Perpetual bachelordom seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Marriage was out of the question, and even love in general was painful, pointless, and largely overrated.

But that was all before Rhiannon. It wasn't until he reunited with her and remembered the life they had before that he realized what he was missing in this one. Rhi was incomparable to any other woman he had ever met, she was the game-changer. He knew that when everyone else heard that he was engaged to be married, they were bound to have more than their share of jokes to crack, but Damon didn't give a damn. He had wanted to marry Rhiannon when he was a human, and fate had cruelly snatched away that opportunity from him. Damon knew he would not allow anything or anyone to take Rhi away from him again.

Hearing the leather on his steering wheel grind in protest under the stress of his tightened grip, Damon tried to calm his thoughts. As much as he wanted to just enjoy this night with Rhiannon, Damon's euphoria was shadowed by the threat of Rebekah and Kol. And now, potentially even Esther, according to Elijah.

He sighed and found himself wishing that all the Originals were sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic. He was tired of a new danger crawling out of the woodwork at every turn, threatening Rhi and his happiness, which were now two mutually inclusive entities. If Esther really did pose a potential danger to Rhiannon as Elijah claimed, Damon knew his only option was to take her out. He knew he needed a plan, and an epic one at that. One that the fearless little redhead at his side knew nothing about, because she would be sure to oppose it.

Damon felt Rhi squeeze his hand and he glanced over at her and offered a smile that he hoped wasn't as transparent as it felt. He still couldn't pick out any of her thoughts, but her soft green eyes reflected something that looked like worry.

Before she could say anything, loud raindrops began thudding against the windshield. As Damon flicked on the windshield wipers, lightning flashed, illuminating the darkened clouds above them. Damon knew that telepathy or no telepathy, Rhiannon was beginning to pick up on his anxiety and it was best to change the subject.

"You're finally unscathed again," he observed as he surveyed her healed wounds out of the corner of his eye.

She rubbed the side of her face where her gash had been and felt nothing but smoothness. Other than a few tangles in her hair and frayed tears in her dress, Rhi was flawless.

"I might heal slower than you, but I'm a lot more durable than you. I'm not as fragile as you see me, Damon," she informed him as thunder reverberated against the car windows.

Damon eyed her surreptitiously as she spoke, then shook his head as he pulled the car into the driveway of the Boarding House.

"Yeah, I'm not going there with you. Not tonight. That topic of discussion falls in too closely to the 'shit we agreed not to talk about' category," he told her as he shoved the Camaro in park and slid the key out of the ignition.

Damon ignored the mildly reproachful look she gave him and reached underneath the driver's seat. "New subject!" he said with newfound enthusiasm as he presented her with a bottle of bourbon. "I believe we have a reason to celebrate."

**Meanwhile inside the Boarding House…**

Stefan sat at the desk in his room, accompanied only by his thoughts and his glass of brandy. His arms were folded tightly across his chest as he stared at the open diary before him and sighed. Ever since he had witnessed Elena's embarrassing stunt with Damon outside the Grill, Stefan had been riddled with an anger. To Stefan, the worst part that he did not know who to direct all this anger at.

Damon was not at fault for Elena's actions. He had gone to great lengths to stop her, even insulted her and ordered her inside, but she still pursued him.

Stefan also wasn't keen on the idea of blaming Elena entirely. She had spent the last two years being the center of his _**and**_ Damon's attention. Stefan was also painfully aware that his brother and Elena had gotten close, though he didn't like to think about how close, while he had spent last summer with Klaus. Neither of them ever mentioned anything about those months he had been absent, but Stefan could see it in the way they had looked at each other when he had returned home. Elena no longer spoke of Damon unfavorably, nor was she irritated by his presence as she once had been. Damon had kicked his charm into high gear whenever Elena was around, and she barely hid the fact that she enjoyed it. But as uncomfortable as it was to watch their relationship blossoming before his very eyes, Stefan questioned any right he had to blame either of them for it. After all, he had left them behind when he joined Klaus. Damon and Elena had tried relentlessly to save him, to pull him back to his humanity, but Stefan had refused them. In truth, Stefan had enjoyed deviating from his good guy image, and he had not wanted to be saved.

Once Stefan finally had returned and began noticing that Damon and Elena did indeed appear to have real feelings for each other, he did not have the heart to call either one of them out for it.

He was desperate to salvage his own relationship with Elena, and Stefan knew that his only chance of doing so would be to get Elena as far away from Damon as he could.

So Stefan had devised a plan to take Elena away to a secret location for an undisclosed amount of time. When he had told Elena and Damon of his plans, Stefan made sure to insist that this was the only way to stay one step ahead of Klaus and ensure Elena's safety. He knew if he presented it that way, with Elena's best interest supposedly in mind, that Damon would not stand in his way. Elena had objected to his plan at first, but eventually she caved.

Stefan had been so eager to win Elena's heart back that he scarcely had any guilt over leaving Damon behind in Mystic Falls to deal with Klaus. Not that he was proud of himself for that, in fact, Stefan hated himself for betraying his brother that way. A few weeks of time alone with Elena had renewed Stefan's confidence in the strength of their love, and with that confidence came the realization of what he had sentenced Damon to by abandoning him.

Stefan had rushed home with Elena, only to find Damon was not only alright, but even more surprisingly, he was not alone. And he was in love.

Undeniably so.

Damon had introduced him to Rhiannon, but Stefan found that he had mysterious new memories of her from his human years. He remembered the gorgeous redhead now clearly, but knew that a few days ago he would not have recognized her. Damon had later explained that Rowan, the vampire who created and guarded Rhiannon, had compelled both he and Damon to forget her back in the 1860s. Subsequently, when Klaus killed Rowan, the effects of his compulsion had died with him, allowing the new memories to manifest.

Stefan knew that Damon and Rhiannon had been inseparable all those years ago, and from the looks of things, not much had changed in that department.

While Stefan had apologized to his brother for selfishly leaving town, he couldn't help but notice how the small, striking redhead stayed by Damon, closer to him than even his own shadow. Rhiannon, or Rhi, as Damon liked to call her, was indeed beautiful.

But it wasn't so much her beauty that caused Stefan to stare at her so fixatedly. It was the way she looked at Damon that amazed him.

Rhi looked at Damon like he was the first and the last sunrise she would ever see. None of the other lusty-eyed women that chased after Damon had ever looked at him like that.

And as Damon explained who and what Rhiannon was exactly, and that she had killed Klaus, Stefan did not miss the pride and the emotion that saturated his words. Damon spoke of Rhiannon with a reverence, like devout people speak about their gods.

Stefan thought it was beyond refreshing to see this side of Damon, to see him receiving as much love as he was giving. Stefan also knew that at his side, Elena was in a state of disgruntled shock, and had been ever since.

Stefan downed the rest of his drink and roughly sat the crystal tumbler on his desk as he recalled driving Elena home that night.

_The two of them sat in complete silence for the entire duration of the car ride, but when they arrived in front of Elena's house, Stefan began demanding answers from her. Elena mostly tried evading or denying his questions, and when she could do neither she made excuses. Her biggest defense, she had decided, was having too much to drink. Stefan chuckled humorlessly at her choice of alibi._

"_Elena," he had told her, "have you ever heard the saying 'drunken words are sober thoughts?' Do you really believe I'm stupid enough to think you don't care about Damon?"_

_Elena had winced at the hard bite of Stefan's words. She opened her mouth once to protest, but instead clamped it shut as her brown eyes filled with tears. Seeing her cry, Stefan immediately felt guilty for yelling at her and reached for her hand._

"_Go ahead and say it, Stefan," Elena sobbed as she yanked the car door open. "I'm just like __**her**__. I'm no better than Katherine!"_

"_Elena, wait!" Stefan had tried to stop her. _

"_No, Stefan. Please, I just wanna be alone tonight, okay?" she had pleaded. _

_Stefan only nodded. He had known that it would take some time for her to adjust herself to the reality that Damon was in love with someone that wasn't her. He only wished that it wasn't so difficult for Elena to accept this. As Stefan cranked the ignition, he saw Elena turn around to face him just before she reached the porch._

"_Oh, and Stefan?" she had called out. "I'm sorry. For everything."_

The sound of a car door slamming and laughter interrupted Stefan's reverie and he got out of his chair to investigate. As he looked out his window, he saw that Damon and Rhiannon had returned home. It was pouring down rain and Rhiannon was giggling uncontrollably as Damon carried her over his shoulder. Damon stopped to take a swig out of a bottle of whiskey, then stumbled and lost his balance. This sent both of them collapsing, tumbling to the ground in a fit of hysterical laughter.

_Idiots_, Stefan thought to himself as he grinned and shook his head. He had not seen this side of Damon in years. Many, many years.

Stefan smiled as he watched them, then snorted and shook his head in amusement as he made his way back over to his desk. He thought about how Damon was no longer plagued by the bitterness and hatred that had once consumed him. It was as if Rhiannon returning had awakened his soul and breathed new life into him.

Stefan ran his hand through his hair and shoved his journal back into the desk drawer. He climbed into bed, and fell fast asleep as raindrops fell heavily onto the roof.

**Meanwhile outside in the yard…**

"We're getting married!" Damon shouted as he gripped the sides of Rhiannon's face to kiss her.

Thunder echoed around them and sheets of rain began falling even harder around them. Rhi broke the kiss and was in the process of trying to stand up when Damon suddenly pulled her back down on top of him.

"Aaahhhh!" Rhi squealed as the cold raindrops began pelting her skin harder.

"And just where do you think you're going?" he murmured as he encircled one of his arms around her waist and held the back of her neck with his other hand. "You're staying right here, Kitten."

"Damon its-" he cut her protest off with another kiss. Rhiannon whimpered then stopped struggling. She knew the point was moot now anyway considering she was already drenched.

"Tell me you wanna marry me," Damon said suddenly.

Rhi opened her eyes to see that he was staring at her intently. Raindrops cascaded down his face and almost gave the illusion of tears, especially given the emotion shining through his blue eyes.

Rhi had told him she wanted to marry him a total of three times since his proposal, but it was clear Damon had not gotten his fill of hearing her speak the words. She smiled at him brightly and answered.

"I want to marry you, Damon. Nothing could make me happier."

**VvVvVvVv**

As they stepped through the threshold, Rhiannon and Damon were wrapped in each other's arms, soaking wet from the rain. Rhiannon's legs were anchored tightly around Damon's waist and his hands were knotted in her dripping hair as they continued to kiss each other voraciously.

Damon kicked the front door shut, then staggered into a table a few feet away from the door and mumbled a curse under his breath. With one fell swoop of his arm, he cleared the table of it's contents, sending books flying and glass shattering to the floor. They continued kissing one another hungrily and Damon let out a throaty growl when Rhiannon ripped his saturated shirt off and flung it against the wall with a loud smack. He laid Rhiannon down on the table and began devouring her with kisses. Damon's affection was a mixture of sweetness and ferocity, and as his mouth trailed over her neck his fangs involuntarily extended.

"Go ahead," Rhi encouraged him as her fingers traced over the dark, spidery patterns around his electric blue eyes.

Damon did not need much more of an invitation than that. Lost in the moment, he sank his teeth into the right side of her neck and began drinking from her veins. She tasted deliciously sweet. There was an intoxicating purity to her blood and Damon wanted to possess it as badly as he wanted the rest of her. Rhi moaned and twisted her fingers through his hair as he drank from her, and with one arm wrapped around his back tried to bring him closer to her. Damon gladly obliged, but stopped short when he heard a muffled sigh escape her lips. Just as he raised his head to examine her face, he recognized the problem.

"Damon! What the hell?" Stefan yelled when he landed at the base of the stairs as he spied his snowglobe from Chicago (a particular favorite of his) that now lay in ruins. Stefan nearly staggered backward when he noticed the bite mark on Rhiannon's neck and the blood dripping down Damon's chin.

.

"If you're gonna stand there and enjoy the show, you have to buy a ticket," Damon said dryly.

"What are you _**doing**_?" Stefan asked as he stared at Rhi's neck.

"We're… _**celebrating**_," Damon said, widening his eyes suggestively at Stefan. "And you're interrupting."

Stefan shook his head with confusion. "I just heard noises and thought I'd come investigate."

Damon snorted as he draped Rhiannon over his left shoulder and proceeded to scale the staircase effortlessly. "Well thanks for doing your part in the neighborhood watch, Stefan. Appreciate it. Now if you'll excuse us… ," he trailed off. "Oh, and one more thing," Damon said as he poked his head out into the hallway. "Make sure you clean up that mess, young man."

**A/N Hope you enjoyed it! I don't feel it was my best but I promise things are about to get MUCH more exciting. This is just kind of a necessary segue into more drama. I will update the next chapter soon! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!**


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